Thank You For Having Loved Me
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: A sweet, little Dolph/AJ story...with craziness, showing off, and lots of show-stealing...spin-off of "Hugs and Kisses"...Updated every week...
1. Beginnings, August 12, 2013

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people portrayed in this story. The characters belong to the WWE, and the real people own themselves.**

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A/N: So here we are. This is the spin-off story from Hugs and Kisses. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, if you go to my profile and see that giant monstrosity of a story, this is part of that. This is the Dolph and AJ part of that. You don't necessarily need to read that story, but if you want to know what's going on in this one, you might want to read from chapter 395 to last week's chapter.

If you don't feel like doing that, basically all you need to know is that, as with Hugs and Kisses, I follow storyline. What I see on screen is what I write about. Anything that happens off-screen, like tweets or videos of cake fights or just general life stuff, I may alter to my liking, but what happens onscreen is what I write about. So pretty much, Dolph and AJ have been together for a while, and they're not broken up. You'll catch on quick.

This isn't to say that characters from both stories won't make appearances, so I mean, I would recommend you read the other story, but again, you don't have to as this will focus on Dolph and AJ. Anyways, this is still an experiment, so we'll see how it goes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a lot to work with on Raw, so it's not really show-centered, but I hope you enjoy anyways. Please review and tell me if you like this format because I'm still trying to think this whole thing out and your opinion will mean so much. Be brutal if you want, I can take it. :)

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"Babe, your phone."

Dolph just laughed as he continued to watch whatever he was watching on his laptop. She frowned and rolled her eyes. Not that she had any reason to since she'd been dead to him while catching up on some comic books she'd been meaning to read while touring South Africa but never found the time to do so. Then she'd meant to read them on the plane, but again, found herself sleeping most of the way.

"Dolph, your phone," she said a little louder, but he was wearing his noise-canceling headphones (she didn't know if she should feel insulted by this fact). She rolled her eyes again and stood up from the couch in their room and walked over to the bed. She climbed on top of his back and rested her entire body on his, her head nestled between his shoulder blades.

Dolph reached up and took off his headphones. "Is there any reason why you're using me as your bed? Not that I mind, but really, you should be naked when you're doing this."

"I don't sleep naked."

"When is that going to change by the way?" Dolph asked. "If you do it, I'll do it."

"No," she told him, "I don't feel comfortable sleeping naked."

"Oh, is that why you _always_ insist on finding your underwear after we have sex?" he laughed. "You could just put on my boxer briefs if you wanted."

"They wouldn't stay on…oh, okay, I get it, if I tried to put on your underwear, they'd fall off, and I'd be naked again, very funny, Ziggy, very funny," AJ leaned over his shoulder so she could see his face. "You weren't paying attention to me calling you."

"So this means you want to press me into the mattress and take me wildly, are you going to sully my reputation?"

"Not tonight, I'm exhausted, all the traveling, everything, I'm exhausted from living," she groaned. "I can't wait to go home and just climb into our bed and sleep for days then I want to lounge by the pool and slather myself in SPF 5000 while you slather yourself in SPF -70,000."

"I like a good tan," he told her, "that sounds nice, and we can get our kid."

"I miss my baby!" AJ groaned, "he probably misses us so much."

"You mean he misses _me_ so much, right?"

"He does not love you more than me," AJ protested. "Oh my God, I'm an idiot, I forgot why I needed to get your attention. Your phone was ringing."

"And you didn't check it?"

"I didn't really feel like seeing some random girl hitting on you," she told him.

"Cute," he said, reaching around him and slapping her butt. "Get off me now."

"Yes, sir," she rolled off and laid down next to him. He got off the bed as she replaced him at his laptop, grabbing his headphones and putting them over her ears as she started playing around with whatever was there.

He grabbed one side of her headphones, pulling them away from her ear. "Whatever you do, _don't_ go to the folder marked 'Pictures of bunnies,' alright? You won't be interested in that folder at all."

"Okay," she told him as he turned his back to grab his phone. She immediately started looking for the folder, finding it rather easily. She opened it up, and it was just as she suspected, a whole bunch of pictures of bunnies. She cursed her boyfriend's dorkiness before she went to check her email.

Dolph grabbed his phone, unlocking it and looking at the unfamiliar number. There was a voicemail, and he shrugged, bringing it up to his ear. "Hey, Dolph, it's Kaitlyn, I was hoping we could meet up and go over strategy for Sunday, it's been a really long time since we've teamed together, and Big E and AJ have been together for months so they're bound to be better, I thought we could just kind of get coordinated, let me know."

Dolph rolled his eyes and put his phone down onto the nightstand. He climbed back onto the bed, but refrained from climbing onto his girlfriend. Instead, he rested his head on her shoulder. "Hey."

"Mmm?" she grunted, taking his headphones off. "What's up?"

"It was Kaitlyn."

"Um, what?" AJ said. "What was she doing calling you?"

"She wanted to talk strategy."

"Did she proposition you for sex?" AJ asked incredulously. "Because I'll break her face."

"While I really want to see that, no, she didn't proposition me for sex, that's not to say that's not what she wants, but she didn't say it explicitly, but then, doesn't every woman want sex from me? I bet the first time you saw me, you wanted sex from me."

"We were staring at each other across the ring, you were with Vickie Guerrero, and you then wouldn't let me tag my partner in, do you really think I wanted to have sex with you in that moment?"

"Yes, yes, I do think that you wanted to have sex with me in that moment."

"Are you going to meet up with her?" AJ asked, ignoring his answer. Dolph just smirked and kissed her briefly.

"No," he shook his head, "why would I want to meet up with her? Look, the less she knows, the better, you want to use this to your advantage, so that's what we're doing. We're using our advantage and making sure we're not a well-oiled machine, but speaking of well-oiled—"

"Is your mind _ever_ out of the gutter?"

"We've been together for ten months, and have I ever?" he asked.

"Wow, ten months, really?"

"Last October, and I think my counting skills are okay, I don't think the concussion knocked those out of my brain," he told her.

She sighed, "I don't like thinking about that, happy things, please."

"Well, I'm not meeting Kaitlyn. I didn't even want this thing to go this far, you know, but since when does The Miz have the power to book matches? And of course Vickie would go along with it because she's _still_ not over me, which, I get it, I'm me, women don't get over me, that's what I was saying earlier."

"Well, men don't get over me so easily either. You wouldn't get over me."

"I'd get under you."

"You would cry, and you would want to drown your sorrows in a bottle if you didn't have me around, face it," she told him, ignoring his dirtiness. Part of her wanted him to tell her that he would never get over her. Sometimes, she still needed the reassurance that came from him. Although she was in a much better place regarding their relationship, sometimes she still needed the reminder that he loved her.

"Yeah, a bottle of protein drink," he told her with a scoff.

"You wouldn't even be upset if we broke up?"

"No, because I'm never planning on breaking up with you," he shrugged carelessly. "So it's not even going to cross my mind. Come on, let's go to bed because we have an early flight tomorrow."

"You really do want to like…I don't know, spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Oh, I don't know, yes," he said in a dumb voice as he turned off his laptop. "If I keep saying it, you have to believe it at some point, right?"

"Shut up," she said, climbing into bed. "I just like to hear it, that's all. It just reminds me."

"Reminds you of what?"

"That you're really here."

The next day started too early, but the thought of finally getting home, and seeing Nacho made everything better. She couldn't wait to be in her own space with no other wrestlers around, without any shows for the rest of the week. Next week was SummerSlam, and they'd be spending the entire week in LA, which excited her boyfriend because he wanted to hit up every comedy club and improve theatre they could find. He was going to be like a kid in a candy store, and she was going to be the one he dragged around sampling all the candy.

"Home!" AJ dropped down to the floor and laid on her back as Dolph looked down at her, cocking an eyebrow. "Oh my God, it feels so good to be home."

"That floor hasn't been cleaned in almost 20 days, you know?" Dolph told her and she scrambled to her feet as she laughed. "Are you going to get Nacho now?"

"Yeah, I'll head over."

"I'm so glad we have people around here willing to take care of him, it gives me peace of mind knowing that he can spend the time with his friends and not in some boarding place," AJ said, "I'll bring our things upstairs."

AJ brought their things up to the bedroom before immediately changing into shorts and a t-shirt. She threw the covers back and climbed into bed. They'd barely had time between landing in the States to Raw, and it was catching up with her. She closed her eyes for a second, just taking in the quiet of the house, and the comfort of her own bed and pillow. She burrowed herself under her blankets, creating a small cocoon for herself.

"You couldn't even wait five minutes to get in bed, could you?" she heard her boyfriend walk into their room. She felt something land on the bed and start to move towards her. "There's your mom, Huevos."

"Nacho!" AJ pulled the covers back and Nacho hopped over her legs to get to her and she hugged her dog and kissed him on the head. It was only a few moments later that he snuggled into her and she pulled the blanket back over the two of them so Nacho was pretty much hidden underneath them.

The room was bathed in shade as she heard Dolph close the blinds behind her. She made no motion to move because she was so incredibly comfortable right now. She was used to hotel beds in countless hotel rooms, so when she actually got to sleep in a regular bed with a regular mattress and sheets she bought herself (some of Dolph's sheets were so old she was afraid he'd had them since high school or something) it was such a luxury. The mattress sagged for a moment as Dolph climbed in behind her, and she felt his arm snake around her waist and pull her closer to him as he settled in behind her.

"So what are we going to do about Kaitlyn and the match?" Dolph whispered into her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are we going to plan this? I'm not…I don't know if I'll be able to stand back and watch her hurt you if it comes to that."

"You know I'm a wrestler, right?"

"You know you're my girlfriend, right?"

"But not to Kaitlyn, I still don't know how Katie missed that one," AJ said as Nacho emerged from the bed and climbed out so he could have his own space. AJ laced her fingers together with Dolph's around her waist. "I guess that's what happens when you have no friends. But I say we play this out like we were going to."

"You mean just go out there and just have a match?"

"Yeah," she responded. "I mean, we were going to let you and E just have at it, why not just all four of us? It's not like either one of you can lay your hands on me because of mixed tag rules."

"How cool would a match be between us though?" he asked. "We'd steal the show. You could lock me in the Black Widow, it'd be amazing, people would go crazy, they'd praise the hell out of us, management would want us to be featured every week, we'd do press all over the place."

"You just want to be able to spank my butt as you tap out in front of everyone."

"If I'm going to lose to anyone, I want it to be to you," he told her, and she smiled. "But yeah, I guess we should just go through with it, just do what we were going to do. Just don't get yourself speared again, there's only so many times I can take you nearly broken in half."

"I'm a lot tougher than I look," she yawned. "We'll be fine, everything after SummerSlam will be good for both of us. I have Layla to watch my back now, and I'm keeping the title with me forever. And you will take everything by storm."

"I hope so," he sighed, and she pulled his arm tighter around her. "You don't even have to say anything, babe, it's just…the concussion—"

"Dolph…"

"I know, Jeannie, I know you hate hearing about it, I know you hate thinking about it, but…it screwed everything up, and I haven't felt…I don't know, I just felt like I lost a lot of momentum because of that."

"You'll get the title back, Ziggy, you will, and you'll hold it for such a long time, and people can't help but love you, alright?" she told him. "They love you now, even when you're being a jerk to me, they can't help themselves because you're just so charismatic and perfect."

"Only you think that."

"No, not just me, after this is all over, you're going to get back to that, and we'll be that power couple. We have to be, it's what we've always wanted, and look at us, we're here, we're in the business we've dreamed about since children, so we know what it's like to work for what we want and get it. The same applies here. If we work for it, we'll get it."

Their time at home was way too short. Dolph and Justin attended a Diamondbacks game together while AJ stayed at home, but that was the height of their downtime. Otherwise, they stayed at home, pigged out on food they shouldn't, lounged by the pool, and played with Nacho. Someday that would be their lives, someday they would be in one place for more than a few days, but that wasn't now, and that wasn't today, and before they knew it, they were in Chicago for their panel and autograph sessions. It was Dolph's second session and panel this year, but it was her first, and she was excited for it, especially the panel.

"So what are you going to say on the panel?" Dolph asked as they waited to be introduced. "Are you going to hate me?"

"No, I'm not going to hate you, I'm going to answer truthfully."

"What if they ask you who the best kisser is because they're going to ask you, you know?" Dolph said. "Are you going to say me?"

"No, I'm not, I'm supposed to hate you, remember?"

"I thought you just said you were going to answer truthfully…wait, are you saying I'm _not_ the best kisser and you're trying to spare my feelings?" his jaw dropped a little. "I have had plenty of practice kissing, and I'll have you know, I've never left a girl unsatisfied."

"I know," she appeased him, but he frowned at her. She just gave a shrug. "Well, if someone asked you who was the better kisser, me, Vickie, Maria, or Kaitlyn, am I missing anyone?"

"No, I don't get around as much as some people in this room," he said.

"You mean Ricky?" AJ whispered, pointing over Dolph's shoulder to the third person on their panel. "I never took him for the type."

"I'm going to character assassinate you out there. I'm going to tell them all about the things you do at home, how you wrap Nacho up in towels like a burrito, how you leave laundry all over the place, like, you're not even stripping for me, how do your t-shirts end up on the kitchen table?"

"You will not," she poked him in the stomach, "or I will attack you on Sunday."

"You wouldn't dare."

"You've only been dating me for ten months, try me, Ziggler."

"Wow, so we fake break up, and this is how it's going to be, huh?" he told her, backing her up slowly until her back hit the wall. "And you know what's really sad here?"

"What is really sad?" she pouted a little bit, jutting her lip out. He leaned forward and tugged on her lip a little before kissing her. Before she could fall into the kiss, he was pulling away, but keeping his forehead leaned against hers. AJ was briefly aware that they were doing this in front of Ricky Steamboat, but then she looked into her boyfriend's incredibly blue eyes, and she was lost again. "What is it?" she breathed.

"I have a whole pocket full of cash to buy you comic books and action figures," he told her, pulling away and shrugging, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Her jaw dropped open and he took another couple steps back and turned his back to her, waiting for the doors to open so they could go into the hall where their panel was being held.

AJ chased after him, pulling his arm out of his pocket and ducking under it, wrapping it around her as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "You do?" she asked eagerly.

"I know you had to leave your purse upstairs, and you've got, what, you're ID and wallet, you don't have any money and I know you're drooling at the thought of getting to walk the floor out there and buying everything you want, so I brought my wallet."

"You've just earned so many points, Dolph Ziggler."

"So will you_ please_ say I'm the best kisser already?"

"We'll see."

She didn't, well, she did, sort of, but not totally. Dolph was proud and happy when she said it, and he couldn't keep the smug look off his face, until she said that Punk wasn't bad either, which caused the smile to falter from his face. He knew she was teasing him, saying it because he'd explicitly told her that she should say him. His girlfriend was such a little tease sometimes, but he liked that about her.

He liked that she was comfortable in their relationship now. He liked that she could be herself again. He liked that she laughed and joked and wasn't crying over a hot beverage by herself. He liked that when he went home, she went home with him. He liked that she nodded when he said he still had his Spirit Squad outfit. He liked that she automatically assumed she would know her response when she talked about her comics. He liked that she knew what he was going to say before he said that he liked Archer. He just liked that they were so in tune with one another. He tried to keep his feelings at bay, tried to remain indifferent to her, to at least try to play up into it, but he couldn't, not anymore.

He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to hide his feelings for AJ, not properly anyways. She was too much into his heart, too much in his life at this point. His house was no longer just his. It was their house now. Even when they were trying to hate each other, like earlier this week when they were trying to act like they hated each other, he was afraid it came off more like they wanted to make out with one another. Kaitlyn didn't seem to notice though, and that was the important thing to AJ. Kaitlyn was just so consumed by revenge that she didn't seem to see any of it.

Or she just chose not to see it.

"Okay, E said he's ready to leave, I'll see you at the arena," AJ leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Bye, babe," Dolph told her as she walked out of the room and downstairs where E was waiting. Since Kaitlyn seemed to think she and Dolph were not together, it seemed safer for her and E to travel alone hence separate cars. AJ walked out to the car with E and climbed inside after putting her things away.

"So what do you think you'll do when all of this is over?" she asked. "I mean, there's no way that you just stay my bodyguard because you suck at it."

"Well, maybe if you weren't always getting yourself into trouble I could rest between trying to save your butt."

"My butt is worth saving."

"You don't have any junk in that trunk."

"I have plenty of junk, candy wrappers, a spare tire, old CD's, some old clothes, plenty of stuff," she argued.

"I think I might go after the US title or something," E told her. "I don't know, I want a title, I was the NXT champion for a long time, I think I can move up in the world. I can be like The Jeffersons."

"You should," AJ told him, patting his arm. "You could be great."

"Plus, two skinny, white boys fighting for it on Sunday, I think I can down either of them…after I take down _your_ skinny, white boy."

"He'll take you down."

"You're on my team, you should want to win," he reminded her. "I still can't believe The Miz made this match. Who the hell gave him that authority?"

"Nobody, but you think Vickie was going to pass up seeing us fight each other?" AJ rolled her eyes. "You know, she and Dolph broke up long before we ever started dating, she's just such a bitter, old woman."

"Yeah, well, she's our boss, so we have to show her a little bit of respect."

"I know, don't tell me things I already know," she said, "and I'm not asking you to go easy on Dolph, he would hate me if I even tried that, but…I think the only logical solution to this match is for me to pin Kaitlyn."

"So you just think it's going to be that easy."

"Oh, what, before you were telling me that I was buggin', so why aren't I wiggin' about this?"

"You are kind of wiggin'."

"And I think you have a crush on Kaitlyn," AJ countered.

"Okay, now I _know_ you're wiggin'. I do not have a crush on her."

"Well, you don't have a crush on me," AJ said, "and you kind of treat her better than me, which is kind of weird considering _I'm_ your best friend, so until you prove me wrong, I think you have a crush on her."

"She's not…that bad."

"I knew it," AJ rolled her eyes. "She's not, and someday, maybe we can be friends again, but her betrayal hurt. It just…at a time when I really needed a friend, she wasn't there, and not only that, but she called me a lunatic. She was my best friend and suddenly was just…not there anymore."

"I'm sorry, AJ, I really didn't know you—"

"And it's okay, I'm okay now," AJ said. "Dolph made me okay."

AJ didn't want to get emotional, but she was. "The other men, they broke me, little by little, bit by bit. She should have been there. She should have told me things would get better, that I would be okay, that's all I needed. I just needed someone to tell me it was going to be okay. She didn't. They all treated me like something that was lesser than. I was never their equal, I was never wanted. And my best friend didn't want me either. Dolph saved me."

"Don't you think you saved yourself? You know he'd say that. That guy is stubborn as hell. It's probably all the bleach."

"I know he'd say that, but you know what, he's wrong. He makes me better."

He had nothing to do on the show. He couldn't believe this. Three hours, and he had nothing to do. He was pissed off. He was pissed off beyond anything. Not even an interview, not a match, nothing. So what was he supposed to do, sit around? He was about to find Brad Maddox, hell, he would find Stephanie McMahon if he had to, although she was probably busy with her kids.

"Dolph!"

Dolph sucked at his teeth a little and turned around. "Kaitlyn."

"Did you not get my voicemail last week?" she asked.

"I got it, but I was busy," he told her.

"Well, I saw the schedule, neither one of us have anything, so we really need to strategize, I think. I really want to win on Sunday. I just want AJ to realize she's not better than me. She may have beaten me—"

"Three times now," Dolph reminded her unconsciously. She stared at him for a moment, but shook it off. He needed to watch his mouth around Kaitlyn when it came to AJ because he wasn't sure he could keep the pride out of his voice.

"Yeah…anyways, I don't want it to be again, and I'm sure you don't want Big E to beat you, right?"

"No, I don't."

"Great, so I say we scope out their match and talk about what we can do. We haven't teamed together in _forever_, right? It's been like, what 3 years, we're out of practice, right. Oh man, is that going to be awkward that I brought that up."

"Why would it be awkward?" he asked.

"Because we kind of made out, remember?"

"Yeah, that was three years ago, I think we're both over that," he deadpanned, at least hoping she was. It would be doubly awkward if this woman was holding a 3 year long crush on him. Besides, wasn't she on the verge of hooking up with Cody Rhodes a few months ago.

"Yeah, I completely am," Kaitlyn said, "just didn't want it to be weird."

"It's not," he told her. "I just want to watch this match and get it over with, and we'll talk."

"You aren't over her, are you?" Kaitlyn scrutinized him, giving him an eye. "She said it on SmackDown, she said you weren't over her, and I don't think you are. Do you have a problem with me hurting her?"

Of course he did. He was tired of seeing his girlfriend get speared. He wanted to give Kaitlyn an earful, but instead shook his head, "You have to do what you have to do."

He wasn't sure he could actually live by that motto though. He wasn't sure he could stand across that ring and see AJ get beat up on. It was hard enough watching it backstage, but while in the ring, it was terrible. When Kaitlyn speared her on SmackDown, Dolph kept staring at his girlfriend writhing around on the mat. His eyes wouldn't leave her, and his limbs were pulling him towards her, but he fought as hard as he could to keep from going to her, picking her up and taking her backstage.

He didn't know if he could go through that again.

Watching the match was boring except for the fact he got to see his girlfriend in action. She was perfect, as always, and showed why she was the Diva's Champion. Natalya was a tough match up for her, but AJ was quick. But when she got put into the Sharpshooter, Dolph knew it would be difficult for her.

"Ha!" Kaitlyn exclaimed when AJ tapped on Natalya's second Sharpshooter attempt. "I don't know how she's still champion, she's such a fluke."

Dolph had to suck at his teeth again. "I guess so."

"I'm so taking her out on Sunday," Kaitlyn shook her head, practically salivating over it. "Come on, I think I have some ways you can outmaneuver E. He's kind of slow in the ring, I think we can capitalize on that." Dolph gave one last look towards the screen where he saw his girlfriend looking like she was deflated and defeated.

Sunday, and the end of it all, could not come soon enough.


	2. Ready to Defy, August 19, 2013

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and everything last week everyone! I really appreciate them, and I'm glad you're okay with the spin-off. Anyways, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy, reviews would be lovely, thanks! :)

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"Hey there, stranger."

Dolph crawled onto the bed, shoes and all, and laid on top of his girlfriend, splaying his body over hers like a blanket and resting his head on her breasts. "Needs more cushioning," he muttered as he closed his eyes.

"Yeah, well that's all the cushion you're getting, sorry," AJ told him, patting him on the back of the head. "Unless you want to go to Kaitlyn then I'm sure you'll have the cushiest seat in the house."

She could feel him smiling against the side of her breast. "No thanks, why settle for Everest when you can have some local foothills? Much easier to navigate your way around."

She giggled, "Pervert. I feel like I haven't seen you all week. You've been spending all your time with all your friends, I think you've forgotten that you have a girlfriend. I'm feeling very, very neglected."

"Then should you be wearing a top right now?" he asked.

"Not like that," she told him, "did you have fun tonight?"

"Yeah, I did, I met up with some guys I know from the couple shows I've done, and they took me to these places that I can probably get some time in next month when we come to LA for the weekend."

"Cool, so did you see any great comics?"

"Yeah, I don't know why you didn't come with me though, you know you're always welcome, you don't even have to wait for an invitation, you have girlfriend privileges, that means you never have to ask, you can just tag along."

"I know, but I have bowling tomorrow, and I didn't feel like going out."

"I don't see how those two things are even related. You don't like my friends?" he wondered. He didn't want to force her to go out with his friends if it made her uncomfortable or anything, but he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable around his friends either.

"No, it's not that, I just don't know them."

"Okay, that's no reason not to come out with me. I'll introduce you, and they'll love you, and you'll love them because you always laugh at what I have to say, and they're professionals at making people laugh."

AJ softly laughed, making Dolph's head move up and down a little bit on her chest, "I think you're the funniest guy I know, I just…I don't want to make things uncomfortable or weird because well, I mean, you know, I'm not exactly a trophy girlfriend, someone you want to parade around."

She tried to put it as delicately as she could, but she just didn't feel like his friends would like her, and she was scared she'd make a bad impression. They got so few days where he could hang out with all his friends, of which he had lots not in the business, and with her nerdy personality and her crazy past (which she knew was behind her now that she had Dolph) she feared that they would think she wasn't good enough for him.

Dolph took a moment to run her statement through his hair, processing it, making sense of it, "Wait, wait, wait, are you saying that you think I'm going to be ashamed of you?"

"No, not…not ashamed, just…not…like they probably won't like me, that's all, and that's okay, I mean, I haven't exactly been the best person and…I'm weird and stuff, and just…awkward," she told him, 'but it's okay, I like that you're having fun with your friends."

Dolph pulled away from her, kicked off his shoes, and sat up. "You think that they wouldn't like you? Because of some shit in your past? Babe, are you kidding me? They would love you, you've got a great sense of humor, you'd fit right in. And everyone knows you're not the girl you were last year. You're not ever going to be her again."

"But—"

"No, there's no buts, well, there are butts, if you know what I mean," he wiggled his eyebrows at her, "but if they don't like you, if they even so much as tell me they don't like you or I should break up with you, they're out of my life."

"What?"

"You heard me, I'm not going to stand for that," Dolph shook his head, licking the corner of his mouth in annoyance. "You're coming to the Nerd Fest tomorrow night. You're coming and you can see me take down all those nerds. And you know why I'm qualified to judge a bunch of nerds? Because I have the experience dealing with them."

AJ grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head, smacking him right in the face. "Jerk. I just don't want to make a bad impression and make them not like you."

"It won't happen, I'm such a good guy now," he flashed a cheesy grin at her, throwing the pillow back in her face. "Plus, it'll be right up your alley, you'll love all that nerdy stuff, if you wanted, you should come up there, and do your own nerdy thing."

"Oh, God no, besides, until Sunday, we're not supposed to really be seen together, remember?" AJ reminded him. It wasn't difficult to not be seen together because their schedules were so different right now, but they still had to try and remain incognito until Sunday. After Sunday, things could change.

"Okay, you can sit in the audience then. It's at midnight, so I doubt anyone who would come to something that late is going to be scouring the audience, do you?"

"It's okay, I really don't have to, and Sunday, we have to focus on Sunday," AJ said. "I mean, sort of, you don't have to since I want to beat your ass so bad."

"You can't, you have to rely on E for that," Dolph shrugged, lying down again. "At least in the ring, out of the ring, anything goes, babe."

"Out of the ring, I _know_ I can beat your ass," AJ shrugged carelessly. "You really think your friends would like me? Because I don't want to cause any rifts, you know, I mean, it's just, my history is spotty, and I know that you like to look cool—"

"Look cool? Babe, I _am_ cool," he told her, "and you're coming, and they will love you, and on Sunday, I will beat you into submission via E. I'm definitely going to win, you know that, the only chance _you_ have is if you and Kaitlyn are in the ring and you pin her because E is not going to pin me."

"He could if I helped him do so," AJ countered him defiantly.

"Oh really, and just how are you going to do that? I'm bigger than you, and I can overpower you, and you can't do anything to me that I can't counter because I'm such a good wrestler," he crowed over himself.

"I'm your girlfriend," AJ said. "I can withhold access to this," she waved a finger up and down her body, "and I don't think you'd like that very much."

"Please, you wouldn't even dare," he told her, "what happens in the ring, that's what happens, you can't put stipulations on our real life. I'm going to win the match, but don't worry, babe, afterwards, I'll make you feel better."

"Afterwards, you're going to Mick's show, and I'm going out with some friends of mine," AJ said.

"I meant after that of course," he leaned over her and grabbed her, giving her a bear hug as she tried to wriggle free, "You're not going anywhere, don't struggle, don't struggle."

"Oh God, do you even know what you sound like right now," she laughed as he started to kiss her neck, nipping at it every once in a while. "I'm not doing this with you right now! Stop!" She started laughing as his finges ghosted across her side. "Dolph, no, no, don't you dare find the spot!"

"What spot? There's a spot?" he wondered. "I don't recall any…oh!" He found the spot where she was most ticklish, and she jerked away from his touch as she started laughing hard enough to start snorting. "Wow, classy sound there, Jeannie."

"I hate you," she squirmed away only to fall off the bed. Dolph peeked over the side and started snickering at her. She glared at him. "I'm making sure E takes you _down_ on Sunday."

"I'd like to see him try!"

The rest of the weekend passed in a flurry of activity and press and running all over the place. She and Dolph had such different schedules that it was difficult to even see each other for more than quick kiss and a "see you later." She hated it, but she couldn't change it. On Saturday, she had a charity bowling event then they both had signings, but at different times, then he had a panel he had to go to, and finally, _finally_ the two of them got to spend time together on their way to Dolph's event.

Surprisingly to AJ, but unsurprisingly to Dolph, his friends really liked her. AJ had wit and humor that not many people got to see, but Dolph knew, and he knew his friends would appreciate that. Plus, this was an event judging nerds so she was more than in her element, actually showing up a lot of them with her knowledge. He was honestly kind of proud of her, even if it meant his girlfriend was the queen of the geeks. But she didn't earn the nickname Geek Goddess for nothing.

"Did you have fun?" he asked as they lay in bed later that night, both on the verge of sleep, their days exhausting them to the point where they felt like zombies going through their bedtime routine.

"I did."

"I told you they'd like you. People like you, babe, they can relate to you, far fewer people think you're crazy than you think. The world isn't against you anymore. And if it is, I'll fight it with you."

"Thank you for that, for believing I'm more."

"You have been, you just got knocked down a few times…like how I'm going to knock you down a few pegs tomorrow."

"You keep saying that, and I keep not believing it," AJ shrugged as she yawned.

"We'll see, babe, we'll see."

"Don't make Kaitlyn spear me," AJ mumbled, "so tired of getting speared."

"Well, I can't control what she does, but I'll try."

AJ couldn't see Dolph all day. She wanted to, but she didn't know if Kaitlyn would be hanging around, so she refrained from seeing him. She wrung her hands, trying to relieve them of the sweat that was forming as she went through the match in her mind. She desperately wanted to win. She knew Dolph wouldn't go easy on E, and she knew the same was true of E to Dolph. She wasn't going to be kind to Kaitlyn, and Kaitlyn wanted to break her in half again. So really, nobody wanted to lose.

"You'll be fine."

AJ turned to Layla. "Thanks, it's just…it's a weird situation because I want to win, but like, I know if I win Dolph is going to lose, and he knows the same, and…I hate Miz for making this match."

"He's an idiot, everyone thinks so, we're all united against him," Layla joked as AJ laughed. "Look, the only possible solution is for you to beat Kaitlyn, and you've done it before, multiple times, it'll sting for your boyfriend, but he won't be pinned so he can blame it all on her."

"That's not half bad, but who knows how this will play out. Even if it was just Dolph and E, they're determined to forget their friendship during the match. So it really is every team for themselves."

"Do you want me out there? I could go out there and maybe help you guys out," Layla suggested.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think it's better if it's just us, with all the bad blood and everything, tomorrow, we'll figure something out, I'm sure that somehow we'll find a way to get attention," AJ said as the door opened and Dolph slipped in. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Whatevs, Kaitlyn is the only idiot around here who doesn't know we're together. I just wanted to come and wish you luck because you're going to need it against me and my superior wrestling skills," he said, flexing his arm as she rolled her eyes.

"Get those things out of my face. And get your butt out of here!"

"My butt you say?" he asked. "Butt…butt…what does that remind me of, oh wait, I remember, it reminds me of someone's tweet from earlier about how someone's behind was going to get whipped _after_ the match…"

"Oops, was I not supposed to say that?" AJ batted her eyelashes.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Layla said as AJ shook her head.

"The butt-whipping is for later," AJ said, "I guess I just wanted to remind people that you're mine."

"Nice way to do so. But who wouldn't want to lay claim to this ass?" he pointed at his behind.

"Oh yeah, it's such a nice butt," AJ joked.

"No need to be jealous," he said, coming over, "hey bestie, I hope you're not going to interfere in our match."

"No, bestie," Layla returned. "Your girlfriend has ordered me out."

"Good, I don't want to see your mug out there at all, Layla," he said mockingly. Dolph actually did like Layla. They went way back, way, way back to his time with Vickie and her time with Michelle. They'd formed a kind of loose alliance with them when Vickie wanted to be part of LayCool, and although sometimes the duo were nuisances, they were good people, and he was glad AJ was gaining more friends because his girlfriend was amazing, and more people needed to know that.

"Don't worry, I know that you guys want this to be real or whatever, just a wrestling match, no diving."

"Yeah," Dolph leaned over and kissed AJ briefly. "Watch out for Kaitlyn, alright? She's mad, and she wants revenge, keep your eye out."

"I will, love you," AJ said.

"Love you too."

Dolph left her locker room and left the girls to their conversation (although he probably could jump right in, he liked girl talk, sue him) while he had to go find his partner so at the very least they could be on the same page later. He wasn't lying when he said he wanted to win. He eventually found her sitting on a crate, reading a magazine. He walked over and hopped up on the crate next to her.

"I want to win."

"Me too," Kaitlyn said, barely looking up at him.

"So just tag me in whenever you need to."

"Don't worry, I think I know how a mixed tag goes, and it isn't our first time."

"But it's been a long time."

"I'm surprised you're not asking me to go easy on your ex," Kaitlyn looked over at him. "You know she's just a poison, right? Like whatever you think of her, whatever good feeling is left, it'll fade because _she_ does that. She wears you down until there's just no good feeling left. Don't get suckered into that. She pretends like she's the victim, but it's her, she's the problem."

Dolph never, ever wanted to hit a woman. It wasn't in his makeup, it wasn't his thing, he just didn't ever want to do it, but he wanted AJ to punch Kaitlyn in the face right now. That's what he wanted her to do because Kaitlyn could not be more wrong about AJ. AJ was not a poison, AJ was not someone who sought to hurt other people. The people always turned on her first, and she struggled to swim.

Dolph hopped off the crate, "Just be ready for a tag when it comes, got it?"

"Dolph…"

"Got it?" he said again.

"Yeah, got it," Kaitlyn didn't try to argue again.

When it was time for the match to actually begin, Dolph couldn't believe they had to go after Punk's match. If ever there was a match he didn't want to follow, it would be that one. The crowd was going to be spent, and they probably wouldn't even care about this match. With the addition of AJ and Kaitlyn, even he wasn't much interested in this match because he really didn't want to have to beat his girlfriend, but he also loved winning, and she would never forgive him if he intentionally lost.

He went out there with Kaitlyn, who said she would just make his entrance with him, which he thought was strange. He knew AJ and E were doing their own entrances, but whatever, it wasn't like this was going to become a recurring thing. He walked out there and did his Ziggle Wiggle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kaitlyn acting like she was disgusted by it. It made him wish AJ was out here because she always looked on appreciatively before coming over and kissing him. He did _not_ want Kaitlyn to do that.

They made their way down to the ring while AJ and E came out to their entrances. This was it. He took a deep breath, and the bell rang. It started with him and E going at each other, at one point, E brought him over to AJ, who slapped him. She looked so pleased with herself, and he wanted to laugh, but refrained. He had to get his head into the match, and he couldn't do that if he was laughing because his girlfriend looked so guilty and cute slapping him.

Dolph fought back to get a dropkick on E before tags were made and AJ and Kaitlyn entered the ring. AJ was about to go after her former best friend before Kaitlyn slammed AJ into the corner before clotheslining her. She grabbed AJ and hit a back-breaker as AJ fell to the mat, but she was not to be deterred. She was, after all, the diva's champion, and that came with the know-how. She took control of the match. She hit a couple neckbreakers on Kaitlyn, then taunted her boyfriend a little bit because she could.

Then she took a page out of said boyfriend's book by jumping on Kaitlyn's back and hitting her with the sleeper. It didn't take her out though, and again, tags were mad and Dolph went back to work. At one point, Dolph turned to his girlfriend and pelvic thrusted at her, and her jaw dropped. He winked at her surreptitiously, and she wanted to get in the ring and jump on him, the bastard. E was able to power through Dolph's offense, and he went for the pin on Dolph, but Kaitlyn broke it up. E looked at Kaitlyn, but AJ came out of nowhere to take Kaitlyn out, bringing her to the outside.

E speared Dolph into the corner, but on the second try, Dolph moved out of the way, walking across the ring. Seeing the opportunity, AJ grabbed her boyfriend's leg, holding onto it. He turned and shook her off, which gave Kaitlyn the opportunity to spear AJ to the ground. Dolph was shocked for a moment, but E took advantage of Dolph's distraction and took Dolph out for a 2 count. E was about to go for the Big Ending, but Dolph slid out of it, hitting the Zig Zag for the win.

Kaitlyn climbed in the ring, and he celebrated, grabbing her hand and holding it up, not seeing her pathetic attempt at a Ziggle Wiggle, as he tried to look like he wasn't concerned for his girlfriend. He saw her get up, clutching her middle, and he wanted to take her to the trainer's right now. E went over to her, grabbing her and helping her to the back as he continued to celebrate.

By the time he got backstage, AJ was nowhere to be found, and he was unhappy with that fact. He turned to see Stephanie sitting at her station and walked over to her, "Have you seen AJ?"

"E was taking her to get checked out," Stephanie said.

"She got an owwie," Flynn said, "because she got speared by Kaitlyn, which wasn't very nice because they weren't the tagged people in the match."

"Thanks," Dolph said, "did she look okay?"

"Yeah, she's probably just sore," Stephanie told the concerned man. "I wouldn't worry about it, she's tougher than she looks, we both know that."

"Thanks, Stephanie," he said, turning around and seeing Kaitlyn was still there.

"She's a poison," Kaitlyn reminded him. "I did what I had to do to make us win."

"No, you didn't," Dolph said, "that was taking a cheap shot at someone. You blindsided her—"

"This is wrestling, you were my teammate, she was interfering, look, you'll get over her, everyone does," Kaitlyn said with a shrug, "you just have to picture her as this annoying little gnat or something…you know, like she buzzes around you for a while, and at first you can tolerate it then it become a nuisance, and then you want to swat it into a wall. You're still in the nuisance phase, but it'll get easier the crazier she gets around you."

"Okay, stop it," Dolph told her, "this has gone on long enough, and it really, _really_ speaks to how few friends you have around her, but whatevs, I don't care how many friends you have, I don't care about anything having to do with you, you were my partner out of convenience, not out of want."

"Really?" Kaitlyn scoffed. "I'm sorry, but you've got to get over her. It's getting sad now, dude."

"The only sad thing, _Kaitlyn_, is you." Dolph was fed up with Kaitlyn's constant ranting about AJ. "You know what AJ needed the most when all those guys were treating like crap? Someone to just _listen_. Just to listen, not to stick their noses in her business and shame her. You couldn't do that because, and take it from someone who has probably lost a few brain cells, the bleach was probably seeping into your brain, or maybe the circulation is cutting off somewhere in the vicinity of that too tight vest you're always wearing or whatever the hell that thing is, are you going to war or something with that?"

"Oh my God, you're…why did you dump her in the first place? She _cost you_ your title shot. And she acted like a crazy—"

"She was protecting me…you know why? Because she's my girlfriend," Dolph nodded at this woman condescendingly. "You heard me, she's my girlfriend, as in my current girlfriend, as in the woman I love. We broke up onscreen because we didn't want it to hurt our relationship, it was supposed to be me and E at SummerSlam, but you had to come butt in. And somehow, you have no friends around here to tell you that we never split up, but ask around, see how many people knew that we're fine. I'm sick of your face, goodbye."

Dolph walked off, going to find AJ. She wasn't at the trainer's, but was told she was fine, so he went to her locker room and found her inside, already stripping down for her shower. "Oh wow, I walked in _just_ in time," he said, walking over and hugging her. "Do I get whipped tonight?"

"Yes, because you won," she said, "so you can think of it as a treat and I can think of it as punishment."

"Good, I have to take a shower too, since I'm going out for Mick's thing, and you're going out, and maybe we should share a shower…"

"I'd like that."

"Before I go get my stuff, I told Kaitlyn the truth."

"What? Why?"

"Because she needed to hear it, and I was tired of hearing her talk the way she was about you."

"Dolph…"

"No, Jeannie, it wasn't okay."

"Okay, well, tomorrow is a new day, so we'll see what it brings, and now we don't have to pretend anymore."

Dolph was in trouble. He could feel it the second that he walked into the building. He gripped AJ's hand a little tighter and looked around. There was just a vibe he was getting, a morose one. And people were staring at him, which wasn't unusual, he was really good-looking, but it was mostly sympathetic. AJ could feel it too because she kept looking around in confusion, like she was trying to find something or someone. Layla came up to them, pulling AJ's hand and tugging the both of them into a side hallway.

"What's up, Layla?" AJ asked. "Why is everything so weird around here?"

"Everyone is kind of scared about the new regime," Layla whispered. "Even Stephanie is in on it."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that she was part of that?" AJ wondered. "Stephanie?"

"Yeah, she joined in, she's part of it all," Layla said, turning to Dolph, "and you are in trouble."

"What?" Dolph narrowed his eyes and shook his head in confusion. "I just got here, how can I already be in trouble?"

"The interview you gave last night," Layla said. "It went around, you tweeted it, you dumb boy. Management got wind of it, and Brad is their little lackey, they're putting you in a handicap match against The Shield."

"Damn it," Dolph muttered, "okay, well, I'll just have to win then."

"Ziggy…"

"It's okay, I'm better than all three of them combined."

"But—"

"Babe, I'm a wrestler, I can handle myself," he said, but it did give him pause thinking about a match like that. He'd never faced off against The Shield. For some reason, he'd always escaped their grasp. He suspected it might be because he had AJ and Big E with him, and The Shield didn't look like they'd attack a woman (and maybe because AJ had a crush on them or something, whatever, he didn't like thinking about that particular facet of his girlfriend) and E probably intimidated them. Now he was by himself out there, and he was an easy target.

"We have a tag match," Layla said, "apparently Kaitlyn made up with Natalya so we're going against them."

"Okay," AJ said, but she was distracted by her boyfriend's match. "Um, can we meet up later and talk strategy."

Layla looked at AJ then up at Dolph and nodded, "Yeah, I'll catch up with you, and if I don't see you, bestie, you're going to win, I have faith in you."

"Thanks, bestie," Dolph pat her on the shoulder. AJ turned to her boyfriend, and he shook his head, "Not here, babe."

"Okay," she said, leading him back into the hallway before they located their locker room. They walked inside, setting their things down quietly. "Stephanie has to be up to something. I can't…she has to be."

"Babe, whatever it is isn't going to get me out of the match."

"But…but I can try!" AJ said. "I can appeal to her—"

"Don't fight my battles, remember, that's what all of this was about. We're not going to let our work ruin us."

"That's not what this is though, it's not like I'm going to go out there and throw myself on top of you, but we know Stephanie, well, _I_ know Stephanie, she has plans, always, and this is probably one of them and just let me talk to her."

"Babe, not tonight, okay? I want to defend myself. I want to go out there."

She furrowed her brow, her head tilting back a little as she looked up at him, "You…what?"

"You heard me," he said, "I want to do this."

The more thought he gave it, the more he believed that he needed to go out there. He meant what he said last night, and yes, this was meant as punishment, but it didn't have to be that. It didn't have to be a punishment, instead, it could be him showing that he wasn't going to take this lying down. He believed in what he said last night. Guys like him, guys like Daniel had to crawl up the ladder slowly, clawing their way past so many unworthy guys who got chances far more than they did. The machine was against them all the time, and with Hunter asserting his power last night, with him shoving down the little guy in favor of the "perfect specimen" or whatever he considered Randy, Dolph was pissed.

He didn't care about Daniel, not even a little bit. The guy was verbally abusive to the woman he loved. He treated AJ like absolute crap when they were together, and he was the one who broke her spirit. Then he had the audacity to want her back thus confusing her during a time when she was already confused. He hated Daniel Bryan's guts. But they were in the same boat, and if it came to that, he was going to fight with the guy, even if they both had to swallow some pride to do so.

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired of being knocked for not being tall or not acting like goody-two-shoes Cena. It's time that I stood up for myself, and if that means I have an a handicap match tonight, so be it. I'm going to show them that I'm not going to take this lying down."

"Okay, but please…please be careful."

"Only if you don't get yourself speared again."

"I will definitely try, I'm tired of my stomach being sore even though it does mean I get a massage from my favorite guy…The Miz…"

"Don't even joke about that, don't even joke about it," he shook his head.

"You're going to get beat down," AJ bit her lip.

"I probably will, don't tell anyone I told you that, but you know what, that's okay, I'm still going to look like the winner, I'm me, I always steal the show. Triple H will hate that, so will Vince I'm sure, and I'm also sure that Stephanie probably does have a plan."

AJ grinned, "I know, I should find out what it is!"

"Or you could concentrate on your tag match."

"I'm sure I'll win," AJ said, "or Layla will, whomever."

"You're getting too cocky."

"Sounds like someone I know," she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Are you sure you want to do that match and go out there? I know you're going to say you do, but I'm your girlfriend, so I always have to make sure."

"I'm sure."

AJ's match was right before Dolph's so she couldn't even really give him a pep talk, not that he needed it, but she would have given him one anyways. She couldn't recall a time she tagged with Layla, so their chemistry wasn't going to be right, she knew that. They'd talked before the match, but she was admittedly distracted by her boyfriend's upcoming match. She was worried he was biting off more than he could chew, but telling him that was like talking to a brick wall.

Before the bell even rang for the match, she and Layla attacked the Funkadactyls, getting an early upper-hand. Naomi and AJ started off the match, and AJ got in some early offense before tagging in Layla. And suddenly, it was over, their opponents shocking Layla into the loss. AJ stood on the outside, unsure of what just happened. She'd…but…they'd lost? That was not supposed to happen. She was definitely better than both Cameron and Naomi.

"AJ, I'm so sorry!" Layla said backstage.

"Don't worry about it," AJ said, "I can't think about it right now. I have to watch Dolph."

Dolph came to the gorilla and saw AJ waiting for him. "Hey, did you win?"

"No, um, Layla lost it for us," AJ said, hugging Dolph tightly around the waist. Her grip was strong, and if he didn't know any better, he would think she was trying to put him in a bear hug. If she started to lift him up and shake him, he'd be impressed right about now.

"I'm not heading off into the great unknown, babe, I just have a match."

"I know, I just, be careful," she told him. He pulled away gently, and started to walk up to the ramp. He looked back at her, but she looked at him as if he was being lead to slaughter…and maybe he was.

He held his own for most of the match. Thankfully, it wasn't completely 3-on-1, it was The Shield vs. him, yes, but they could only tag in one at a time so it became more a test of endurance for him. He could keep his eye on the other two while in the ring with one, and he managed to stay afloat. The Shield were tricky, but this wasn't his first time at the rodeo so he didn't feel like that was an advantage for them. He could be tricky too. And he'd had long matches, and sometimes more than one match in a night so this was nothing he couldn't handle.

But then The Shield became The Shield, and they used their numbers to their advantage, and that was the one thing he didn't have. While getting rid of Seth and Dean, it left Roman open, and that meant he got what he hated seeing his girlfriend get, the spear. He could feel the blunt force against his midsection, and he could barely move after that, then it was all over.

Or so he thought.

The Shield grabbed him, lifting him up and setting him up for the Powerbomb. His back hit the mat and he lay in a crumpled heap. He still felt good though. He'd held his own against three men in this match. He'd showed everyone that punishment meant nothing to him. He was the hardest working man in sports entertainment, and he proved it every, single night. He was not going to lie down and take it, he was going to rise above it.

He was going to claw his way to the top, management be damned.


	3. Speaking Out, August 26, 2013

A/N: Thanks for the reads and reviews and everything. Just a little note, regarding Total Divas, I'm just going to pretend like everyone goes by their character name on there, it's just easier. Enjoy! :)

* * *

"And this is why you don't run your mouth off."

"I didn't know that it would carry over, I was just giving my thoughts," Dolph said, nearly slamming his bag down onto the couch in their locker room. AJ glared at him as she put her stuff down on the couch. "They asked me what I thought."

"And look what happened, you have a huge target on your back!"

"Maybe I want the huge target, did you ever think of that, AJ?" Dolph asked her, and she knew he was pissed because there weren't a lot of times he actually addressed her as AJ. She knew she'd be in for a real fight if he ever called her April.

"Why would you want a target on your back!" she yelled at him, hands on her hips as she leaned forward to glare at him.

"The same reason _you_ do," he challenged her and she blew an angry breath out her nose. "Yeah, no argument for that one, huh? You want the target on your back because you want to prove you're the best, why can't I want the same?"

"Because the divas are _nothing_," AJ rolled her eyes. "The only one that likes me is Layla, and let's be real with each other, she'll only be my friend until her eyes are filled with dreams of the diva's title. The only two people I have around here are you and E, and neither one of you can take my title. But you, there's an entire arsenal of people who can take you out."

"I'm better than them."

"Not when they throw three of them at you!" AJ argued. "This whole regime thing is dangerous, we don't know what Stephanie is up to, I mean, you know her husband has no love lost for you, and then there's Hunter, and he's letting whatever get to his head, I don't even know."

AJ sat down on the couch. Dolph sat next to her, rolling his eyes along the way. "Babe, I'm a wrestler, I was a wrestler before we got together, I was a wrestler before I entered the company—"

"They are sending The Shield at you!" she turned to him. "Do you think I don't know what they're capable of? Until yesterday, I thought they were great, but now, not so much, not since they hurt you last night."

"I wasn't that hurt."

"Oh okay, sure, I guess that wasn't you I saw wince getting out of bed this morning, it must have been my other boyfriend," AJ folded her arms in front of her.

"Jeannie," Dolph sighed. "I love you, you're the best thing in my life, and you have been for a really long time now, but you can't protect me from everything. You keep thinking that I should be living in a bubble or something, but I can't do that, and I won't do that. I'm not the guy who is going to back down from a challenge. Whatever is going on with Stephanie, with Hunter, hell, even with Chris, I can't worry about that, I just have to worry about my next match."

"But it's against E!" AJ sighed. "And that means it's against me. They know we're together, and Vickie still put us in a match together. I just…I can't stand it anymore, I can't stand there and watch you…and just…"

"Look, I'm going to make it clear that tonight is it, alright?" Dolph told her, grabbing her hand and staring into her dark eyes. "It's it, after this, I will not ever do anything with you again…onscreen…I can't make that promise though, there might be some night I just have to make out with you."

"Your concussion rattled me more than I'd like to admit," she confessed. "Ever since that…I mean, before that I worried about you, obviously, but ever since that…"

"I know," he nodded because he did know, "but it was a freak thing that happened. Yes, we'll forever hate Jack Swagger, but I can protect myself out there. I really can. I never needed E out there with me, I _loved_ having you out there with me, but I can handle myself."

"Can I punch you?"

"What?" he asked. "Babe, I thought we saved that kind of stuff for the bedroom."

"I mean out there, if I have to go out there and pretend to hate you, can I punch you because I'm still mad at you," she told him.

"You're still mad?" Dolph scoffed at her.

"Yeah, I am, because I don't like that you're challenging the authority and getting yourself punished because of it. I don't like it, and I want to punch you in the face, it'll be me getting even with you," AJ told him.

"You seriously want to punch me in the face?" he asked her. She nodded. "If I didn't love you."

AJ just smiled.

She went out here knowing that this had to be it. She couldn't be a part of whatever Dolph was doing anymore because it made her too upset. There was only so much of this she could take. There was only so many times she could see him get injured without wanting to interfere. She'd done it once, that fateful night at Money in the Bank, when she just couldn't see Dolph getting injured again. She had to help him then and she knew if she was still out there with him when he had to face The Shield, she would have thrown herself over him.

That wasn't what he wanted though, and it was too much for her, so not being out there with him was something of a godsend. It didn't make it easier, nothing would. Standing backstage made her physically hurt because she couldn't be out there with him. She'd worried last week that he would walk down that ramp and go against everything because that was the kind of man he was. He didn't back down, and she loved him for it, but it made her afraid for him. She was the same way though, and she knew she was being hypocritical, but she didn't care.

Their match was mercifully short. She kept her face mostly stone as she watched him, and when she saw the opportunity, she punched him in the face. She knew it didn't hurt, she knew she didn't pack much of a punch at all (she'd had it measured in NXT, and she'd been pretty bad), but her boyfriend acted like it was the hardest punch he'd ever received. She tried not to smile, but she couldn't help herself.

Shortly thereafter, Dolph won the match, and she acted like it made her angry, and she glared at him, but the anger she felt earlier had dissipated, and she was just glad it finally appeared to be over. She just wanted to be with her boyfriend, not pretend they hated each other, not pretend they didn't want to be together, and finally, maybe, things could calm down.

But this was wrestling, nothing ever calmed down.

AJ dangled her feet into the pool, and slowly swung them back and forth as she watched Dolph do a few laps. With Raw being in Phoenix, they got to spend their off days at home, and that was such a luxury they pretty much holed themselves at home. Plus, with SmackDown in Vegas this week, it meant they could spend even more time at home.

"You know, if we were on Total Divas, this would be really riveting television," Dolph said as he swam over to her, leaning his arms over the side of the pool as he looked up at her. "You're not even in a bikini. They'd definitely make you wear a bikini. And you would have to wear some fake boobs too."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked, referring to the tank top and shorts she was wearing.

"They don't do anything for anyone, you can't even see your figure. I think they would make you wear as little as possible, and probably look like you're always going to the club….but then, you don't go to clubs, you go to Gamestops."

AJ kicked some water at him, "So what?"

"Can you imagine us on that show?" he asked. "We'd be so loved, obvs, and people would love to pry into our dirty lives."

"Dirty lives?" AJ snickered. "Really?"

"What? It's not like we haven't made those kinds of videos before," he winked at her and this time she pushed her foot against him. He laughed and moved out of the way. "Jk, jk, it wasn't with you, but don't worry, I don't hide those videos in a box in the garage. I definitely do not watch them when you're not around."

"You're disgusting. _This _is why we're not going to be on that show."

"It has nothing to do with you not wanting to be on it. And you know, it's kind of a shame that people can't see me in my real life. I feel like they would really appreciate seeing me in my real element."

"Which is?"

"Handsome devil," Dolph shrugged one shoulder, "what else could it be? I mean, you'd be there too, so I guess you'd have your part or whatevs, but look at me, swimming in a pool, that alone would get the ratings. I wouldn't be the only thing that was wet."

"You're too cocky, that's what gets you into trouble, that's why management is targeting you. You're too outspoken sometimes."

"So are you," he argued. "Like you don't put bitches in their place every week, and you have been since you won the contendership, and with good reason, you're better than everyone, and you know it, and you're making sure they know it."

"Maybe," she said coyly.

"You own the diva's division." AJ just shrugged her shoulders. Dolph's brow furrowed and he scooted over so he could get between her legs. She spread them so he had the room, and he rubbed his hands up and down her thighs. "You don't think you own that division, you're the champion."

"I know, but like you just said, these Total Divas are getting all this exposure, and it's not like I want cameras around, I do not want cameras here right now, taping this conversation—"

"Um…would you excuse me for one second…"

AJ giggled and shoved his head underwater for a moment. He came up sputtering a little bit, slicking his hair back again. "Stop implying that you videotape us all the time!"

"Who's implying, I videotape us all the time," he joked, kissing the inside of her thigh. He rested his arms on top of her thighs again. "Finish your thought, I won't do anything to interrupt you, I promise."

"I just…feel like the company values that kind of girl more, I've always felt it. That's why when I was in NXT, and when I was in FCW, I kind of…well, I guess at first I kind of tried to be that girl. I wore the tight dresses and the push-up bras with extra padding, and I wore the heels and tried to be perky and perfect, and you know, I just wasn't _myself_."

"For the record, I like _you_ better," he told her, "not that girl you were trying to project."

"I know, I like me too, but it was just, I mean, there was Lita of course, and I looked up to her so much, and she was different and she made it, but the norm was the Kelly Kellys and the Bellas. The people like Molly, who could actually wrestle, were often pushed to the back, I felt. So I tried to fit in, but it wasn't me. I couldn't do it, I kept sneaking myself into it, and now…I feel like I'm kind of being shoved out of the way because ooh, they're on a TV show, and they're on the red carpet, and they're all over doing press and media."

"But you're _here_, and you're defending your championship, and you're shining out there," he reminded her.

"Yeah, in the ring, but the company…look at the company right now. They set it up so Randy won the championship two minutes after Daniel won it because Daniel wasn't championship material. What do you think they're going to think about me? I'm not exactly what they want to parade out there as champion, am I?"

"I don't think that matters," he told her, "you're gorgeous, you're a great wrestler—"

"I'd rather stay home and read a comic book than go out there and sell my sex like Nikki said is what divas have to do."

"Yeah, I'd have a problem with you selling your sex," he agreed.

"Plus, everyone still thinks I'm crazy, and who is going to want a crazy champion?" she asked. "What if Corporate goes after me next?"

"You will take them all down," Dolph told her. "You are amazing in that ring, I know it firsthand. Who do you think helped you perfect the Black Widow? Who helped you become the female show-off? I know what you can do, babe, I know how good you can be. Those divas, they don't have _anything_ on you. So what, our lives aren't exactly show-worthy, even if I think they can be, that doesn't mean you aren't the best Diva's Champion to happen since Trish."

"Since Trish?"

"I think you're better, but that could be my bias talking, whatevs," Dolph shrugged. "You just have to show them that they are not better than you. You have to show the company that the championship is on the right person."

"I know I'm better, that's the thing," she said with a heavy sigh. Dolph placed his hands on either side of her legs and pushed himself out of the pool so he could get to her mouth. She leaned down slightly to kiss him. He smiled against her mouth before he slipped back into the pool.

"You're definitely better. The only one who can even match you in the ring is Nattie, and even then, I think you're better, speedier, stealthier. She's more about strength, and you proved with your hippopotamus ex-best friend that you can defeat strength. Plus, you can beat me any time you want."

"I'm going inside," she said as she heard a splash behind Dolph.

He looked over his shoulder, "Damn it, Huevos, you're going to drown yourself." He swam over and grabbed the little dog doggie-paddling around the pool. He swam back over and put the dog on the deck.

"I'm going to go inside," she said, grabbing Nacho, "before our dog tries to off himself."

"Babe?"

"Yeah?" she said, turning to him.

"Show them you're the best. Do you want to watch the show tonight? We can watch it, I watched it the other week when you were like playing some video game."

"Oh yeah, when you live-tweeted it and I had no idea what you were talking about," AJ said.

"That's the time, yes, you can see how stupid you are for thinking that you're not better than they are," he told her with a smile. "I guarantee you that you'll feel better after watching it."

And that's how she ended up snuggled next to Dolph watching the newest episode of Total Divas. This was not her normal fare; she hated reality shows, but she might as well see what she was up against. Dolph wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in, resting his cheek against the top of her head as the show started. AJ watched as these women paraded their lives around, and she just didn't get it.

Sure, she and Dolph put their relationship out there for seven months, but that was them putting on a show, putting on personas almost. It was them, but exaggerated versions of themselves. They didn't bring the cameras home with them, they didn't let the cameras see how they interacted, and she just didn't understand why anyone would want to do that. She couldn't understand how anyone would want their privacy so invaded.

"What even are JoJo and Eva Marie on this show?" AJ wondered. "They don't even _do_ anything, are they even really in training?"

Dolph shrugged, "I guess they wanted to show what it's like being a new diva…"

"Yeah, that's not what it's like at all," AJ grumbled, frowning as she watched. "I don't know what either Bella sees in either Daniel or John to be perfectly honest."

Dolph laughed, "Well, neither can I."

AJ laughed softly as she continued to watch. This episode also dealt with Nattie and Tyson's inability to even do so much as plan a birthday dinner for her. Then Nattie ended up going with this other guy who was supposed to be her friend, but ended up pretty much hitting on her. AJ thought she had drama. "You know, it's really crazy that Natalya could judge me for last year when she's got this kind of drama in her life that she's putting on television."

"Hypocrites, all of them, and you know what, I would kick that guy's ass if I were Tyson, but I didn't hear about him doing any of that."

"You would?"

"Are you kidding me?" he told her. "If I planned something lame for your birthday, which didn't happen because I'm the greatest boyfriend ever—"

"I have a hard time arguing against that," AJ told him.

"Duh," he muttered, "but if I did something lame like that, like didn't even take you out to a nice dinner, but made you just stay around my family, and you went out with say…Jay Lethal, I would find him, and I would kick his ass for even daring to take you out when you were engaged to me."

"You really would?"

"There's no question about it. If some guy swoops in and tells you he's always had feelings for you, or he has feelings for you now, and I find out about it, that guy is as good as in the hospital," Dolph told her seriously. "I mean, I have to put up with random guys hitting on you, and like, I can't do much about that, but if some dude who knows us and knows you did that kind of crap, hell no, I'm not putting up with it. I would not want some—"

AJ cut him off, kissing him hard, taking him by surprise. He was so taken aback, he didn't even realize she was putting her full body on his, pushing him back against the couch until he was flat on his back, looking up at her. He finally got into the kiss, deepening it as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. She finally pulled away, licking her lips, but keeping her forehead against his.

"I love you so much," she told him.

"I love me too," he smirked at her and she just laughed and started making out with him again.

When she walked into Raw on Monday, she could tell that everyone was talking about that damn diva show. She was the Diva's Champion, and yet everyone was going on about how that damn show was doing. She grabbed a schedule as she walked past a pile of them and looked down at it. She scanned it and saw that there was a match involving all of the Total Divas and she was nowhere on the show.

"I can't believe this," she said to herself.

"I know, this is bullshit," Dolph said, "I'm not even booked!"

"Wait, you're not?" AJ said, glancing over at her boyfriend, who happened to be looking at another copy of the schedule. "How could you not be scheduled?"

"I'm nowhere on this show!" Dolph crumpled up the piece of paper, throwing it on the ground. "I cannot believe this!"

"I'm not either," AJ said, "there's an entire match involving every single one of the damn divas from that stupid show, and the champion isn't even on here!"

"You're kidding me, right? So neither one of us even needed to show up tonight," Dolph was so angry. After last week, speaking his mind, he didn't know how punished he was going to be. First it was a handicap match against The Shield then it was facing his friend and girlfriend, now it wasn't even a match. This only made him angrier, hungrier for it though. If they wanted to keep him down, if they thought they could break Dolph Ziggler, they had another thing coming to them.

"Oh, I'll be on this show," AJ said, glancing around and spotting that ditzy Eva Marie girl walking around like she owned the joint because she was on a damn TV show. "Don't worry, babe, I will find my place on this show."

Dolph looked at her, "What do you have in mind?"

"I have a lot in mind," she told him, turning to him, "you're right, you were right yesterday, I have to show them who I am and why I am and always will be better than them."

"Good. I'm going to do the same."

"Baby, please don't," AJ said, "they're after you, this has some kind of purpose, just don't do anything stupid yet. There's a target on your back already, that doesn't mean you have to turn around so they have clear aim."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means they want you to fail, don't start that, let them come to you so you have the advantage," AJ explained. "Come on, let's get to our locker room."

"Fine," he said, following her until they found it. He didn't want to take her advice, he wanted to go balls out, just take everything and everyone down around him, but he knew that she was right. If he already had the target on him, why make it easier for him to get hit? He had to play this strategically. When they got there, Dolph grabbed his phone, "I have a few calls to make for the plans I have this week, so I'll be on the phone."

"Okay, I'm just going to go see if I can find Layla," AJ said and Dolph nodded.

AJ wasn't going to find Layla though. She went straight to Stephanie's office and knocked on the door. She was in there with her youngest daughter, Kensington, in her lap and Stephanie nodded at her and gestured for her to take a seat. Stephanie was staring at her for a long moment before AJ decided she needed to get to the bottom of this.

"You have a plan."

"AJ…I don't know what you're talking about."

"You have something going on," AJ said, staring at Stephanie's face. "Stephanie, I worked directly beneath you for months, I know you like to plan things, you like things to work out _your_ way, and you will do anything to get that, and above everything else, the only thing you wanted was the show to be yours. I know I came off like I was crazy at that point in time, but I wasn't, Stephanie, I never have been. Broken, yes, but never crazy. I picked up things, lots of things that you didn't think I would because you thought I wasn't really all there."

"Look, Daniel just wasn't—"

"This isn't about Daniel and you know it, it's about Dolph being punished—"

"I trust Hunter's decisions on things," Stephanie said, "that's all."

"No, you don't, because if you did, you'd still be married to him, but you aren't," AJ argued. "You cannot possibly think this is right."

"I think it's time we really start thinking about who is representing this company," Stephanie said, "but if Dolph doesn't feel like that's right, if he thinks that's the wrong way to go about things…he should say so."

"So you think my boyfriend should throw himself to the wolves? Oh, that's just great," AJ said, "I thought…I don't know what I thought coming in here…"

"I'm sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear," Stephanie said, "but if Dolph really does want to _speak up_ then he's more than welcome to do so. We don't run a dictatorship."

AJ stormed out of the room, intending to go back to her locker room and punch something, but then she thought about it a little more, thought about the emphasis in Stephanie's voice. Could she have said something AJ didn't pick up on? What did she mean he should speak up? Why would he speak up if that only meant more pain? Unless…unless Stephanie wanted him to be beat up, but why would she want that?

She wandered aimlessly for a little bit before walking back to her locker room, pushing open the door. Dolph decided to change into his ring gear, and she sat down heavily next to him. "What's wrong?" he asked. "I mean, besides the obvious."

"I think…well, I went to see Stephanie—"

"You didn't try and get me a match, did you?"

"No, I just, I wanted to figure out what's going on with her, why she's suddenly all about her father and Hunter, but…I don't know, I got a weird vibe, like she wants something, but I just can't wrap my finger around it right now, she said if you want to speak up, speak up, but…I don't know, I thinks he's baiting us maybe," AJ hung her head down.

"Hey, look, tonight, I'm not going to worry about it, but…but I am going to speak up. I'm tired of this regime and it's only been a week, but tonight, I'll just…I'll keep my mouth shut for now, okay?"

"Thank you," she said.

"On one condition," he added, and she looked up at him quizzically.

"What condition is that?"

"That you don't keep yours shut."

She smiled. He knew her better than anyone, and he already knew she had something planned. "I don't think that'll be difficult."

All she had to do was wait for the diva's match to end. When it did, when she saw all those vapid women who flaunted their relationships and lives in front of the cameras for the entire world to see (she may have taken a picture on a bed with Dolph, but it wasn't her pretty much on top of him), she could feel the surge of power coursing through her. These women needed to be reminded that while they might be on TV every week, what they coveted, what they all wanted was hers.

She was a wrestler, she was the best female wrestler as far as she was concerned, and none of the women standing in or around that ring could even compare to her. AJ stepped out there, proceeding to address every one of them. Poor Brie and Nikki, airing out their Daddy issues on TV, trying to look sympathetic when everyone knew that Nikki and Brie were just petty, jealous bitches. Then there was The Funkadactyls and their silly drama over go karts. And Nattie and her drama with TJ, who wasn't even man enough to give her a real birthday celebration.

They could have all that because what AJ saw were just girls who couldn't hack it as actresses so they tried to be divas instead. She was better than they were, she had always been better. They had their fifteen minutes of fame, and good for them, but they weren't good enough to step in the ring with her. She was the one who brought this divas' division back. _She_ was the one who took it on her back and made it thrive. And yet they were the ones gaining credit. They were the ones everyone was talking about.

No more.

She would be the face of the division. She would be the one who had the power. They could walk all the red carpets they wanted to, but that was nothing, it would never amount to anything. The only thing that mattered was the belt _she_ carried, and at the end of the day, when that show was dead and gone and nobody remembered it, _she_ would still be standing tall in the middle of the ring, the belt around her waist, and she would be remembered as the best Diva's Champion of all-time. That would be her legacy, not some silly show that people watched and probably made fun of. Who needed their fake drama when she had reality?

And reality had her as champion.

She dropped the microphone and walked backstage to silence. Everyone stared at her in awe, and she looked everyone straight in the eye. Even Kaitlyn was standing there and AJ stared her down. She'd just done something Kaitlyn never would have had the balls to do. She wanted Kaitlyn to know she was on notice too. Every diva was on notice because she wasn't giving up her title for anything. She may look small, but she had an entire arsenal that nobody else had.

"Oh my God," a voice said just over her shoulder and she turned and was immediately hugged by her boyfriend. "Oh…my…God."

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Marry me right now," he told her.

"Dolph!"

"We're going to Vegas tonight, let's do this, let's get married, and after that, I want to have your babies," Dolph told her, and AJ threw her head back in laughter.

"That is not a proposal!"

"Oh, it's most definitely a proposal," Dolph said, "babe, you were…if there weren't people around, I would be taking you right now. You showed those bitches who was boss, I have never been prouder of you. You told them who was in charge, you showed them who was champion, and none of them, not at a single one of them, could even touch you. Damn, if someone else had talked to you like that, you would have had them in the Black Widow right now, but they aren't even on your level."

"I said what I thought, I said what I needed to say."

"I know, I want to do the same thing."

"Do it," AJ told him.

Her words were hasty though. Daniel went too far in Hunter's opinion and spray painted Randy's new car. She knew that would get him in trouble, but it was like they all were in trouble, being forced to watch the match from the ramp. Hunter said that anyone who touched Daniel or helped him would get immediately fired.

"Dolph, please," she simply said before they walked out and took their spots along the stage. "Don't do it."

She worried the entire match, glancing at him every now and then. She could see that he was itching to do it. He'd kept silent when trying to be interviewed, and she held her breath the entire time. She did the same every time Daniel looked to be in trouble. She would glance over at her boyfriend, willing him to stay in his spot. His job was too important, and he could not lose it. She was anxious the entire time, but he didn't move.

After the show, she hugged him around the waist, "Thank you."

"I can only hold back so much, Jeannie."

"I know," she said, "but I think you're supposed to speak out. I think you're supposed to."

"I doesn't matter what you think I'm supposed to do, someone has to speak up. It can't just be Daniel, I know we hate him, and believe me, I don't like the guy, I hate what he did to you, but he can't be the only one. There has to be a spark, there has to be someone willing to put themselves out there."

"You think it's you?"

"I know it is."


	4. Odds Against You, September 2, 2013

A/N: Just a general note. I don't know if some people are reading this, but not reading Hugs and Kisses (which this is spun-off from) so you might be a little confused. So in case you don't know what's happening in that other story, Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon are married in that one, and they have three children (Sawyer, 7, Flynn, 5, and Kensington, 3). So that kind of explains stuff you read about them in this one. Hope you enjoy the chapter, review if you feel like it, thanks for reading! :)

* * *

Dolph looked at all the artwork up on the walls before turning back to his girlfriend.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes, I'm positive," she nodded eagerly.

"Are you seriously sure though, I mean, you can't take this back, you know," he leaned down a little bit so he could meet her eye-line. She tilted her head and gave him a disapproving look. "I'm not trying to call you out or anything here, tone down the eyes, please. I just want you to be absolutely sure."

"I'm absolutely sure…wait, do you not want me to get one?"

"Babe, I don't care, I think you're going to be beautiful either way, and I think it's kind of cool…and a little bit hot, I just want to make sure you think the same thing."

"Well, I'm not going to think it's hot because I'm me and I don't think I'm hot…"

"Well, you are," he told her, "but I just want you to be sure."

"Hey, you ready?" the tattoo artist looked between the two of them.

"Yeah, I'm ready," AJ said. "Is it okay if my boyfriend comes with me?"

"Sure, it's cool, it won't take long," the guy nodded, and AJ gave a little sound of excitement as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and followed the artist into one of the rooms. It was well-lit and there was a chair that AJ sat on. Dolph handed her the hair tie he kept around his wrist all the time and she tied her hair up, fastening it with the clip she had on her shirt. "Let me just get some new needles and gloves and we'll get this knocked out."

"Cool," AJ said, giggling as he left them alone for a few moments.

"You're really sure."

"We're in Vegas, and I want to be impulsive, and I don't drink, so this is a good alternative."

"We don't have to drink to have fun."

"I don't like clubs."

"Okay, we don't have to do clubs."

"I'm not eloping with you," she told him with a laugh, "no matter how hot you thought I was on Monday, I'm not going to elope with you. If we get married, we're doing it right. So again, this is how I'm being impulsive, besides, the date has a lot more significance than just me winning the Diva's title for the first time."

"Oh yeah?" he said, knowing what she meant but wanting to hear her say it.

"Yes, it does because it was the one night where we got to be a power couple. However short-lived it was, we had it, for those twenty minutes, we were better than everyone. We were on top of the world, and it was the best twenty minutes of my life, and I shared that with you. That means something to me."

"Aww, you're making me blush, babe," Dolph said as the tattoo artist came back in and took a seat behind AJ.

Dolph watched as the guy started marking his girlfriend for the rest of her life. He didn't mind tattoos, and the meaning behind it meant something, not just to her, but to both of them. He'd never admit it to her, but knowing the meaning behind it, knowing that her tattoo went beyond the title, that it was something meaningful for the both of them lit something up in his heart. Even if they didn't work out (he was convinced she was it for him though), part of them would always live on with her.

It didn't take long at all to finish, given that it was just a date on the back of her neck. And being a wrestler helped her get through it relatively pain-free. Soon enough, they were walking out of the tattoo parlor, hand-in-hand as she felt like skipping down the sidewalk. "If we ever get married, I fully expect a tattoo of that date."

"Yes, that wouldn't completely mean we'd end up getting a divorce, I'm not jinxing us," AJ said, pressing herself closer to him. "You should have gotten one too, April 8th, do you know how sexy that would have been?"

"Oh, matching tattoos, don't you think that's a little too cliché for us?" Dolph asked her with a smirk.

"No, it would have been sexy."

"I'll get one on my ass," he told her and she rolled her eyes, but laughed nonetheless. The scary part was she figured if he ever did get a tattoo, he'd be silly enough to get one there. "I think yours looks good though, it'll remind me of that night and those 20 minutes every time I'm looking at it, which I intend to a lot."

"Because you'll be taking me from behind, got it," she told him. "I'm glad you're in a better mood than you were last night. I know that…I just want you to know that what Hunter said isn't true. And for him to tell you that you're not big enough, that's ridiculous. His best friend is like the same height as you are. So who the hell is he to make any mention of your height? Your talent is unmatchable. If we all let height dictate things, I wouldn't be anything right now.

"But you're cute."

"You're cute too."

"I mean, you're cute as in people want put you in their pocket."

"I'd let you in my pocket," she told him and he ducked his head in laughter before stopping and kissing her.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too," she scrunched up her nose as she smiled at him.

"You're the reason why things aren't so bad. I know I have you at the end of the day, and I know I'm better than they say. If I have to go through the entire Shield to prove it, I will. I've never been a guy who backs down from a challenge. They're just wrestlers like I am, and frankly, I'm better, do you agree?"

"Well…"

"You better not still have that collective crush on those guys," he told her.

"No, not after what they did to you, even if they are still very good-looking, it's all blind to me now. You're the only guy I ever see, babe. All men are lost to me now."

"I don't need your sarcasm, thank you very much."

"Aww, but I thought you liked it," she told him, breathing in the night air. "So what's the plan for the rest of the week? I know you are ditching me for the Black Sabbath concert on Friday with Justin…couldn't even get a ticket for your girlfriend."

"You're not a fan, you wouldn't have fun," he said, "we're going home tomorrow then we'll just hang around home for the rest of the weekend before Raw on Monday, I guess. And didn't you say your brother was going to come visit next week?"

"Yeah, he is," AJ nodded. "I'm pretty excited, he's the first of my family you'll get to meet, and we're so close, he was my hero growing up, and I really want you guys to get along, no pressure, but I get along with your brothers, so…"

"I don't even get along with my brothers, so that's a feat right there," Dolph joked and she smacked him in the stomach. "I'm happy I get to meet some of your family, it's about time, we're coming up on being together for a year, you'd think that I should meet some of your family."

"I know, and it'll be fun," AJ told him, linking her arm through his now. "Monday is going to be scary for the both of us, don't you think?"

"We have put some pretty big targets on our backs, yes, at least mine wasn't so blatant and in your face."

"I'm sick and tired of that stupid show. Everyone is going on and on about that stupid show. Those girls have barely any wrestling ability save for Nattie and Naomi, and only Nattie can really match me in the ring. Naomi is good, but I'm better."

"This is probably why they were so angry with you, you know."

"Because they can't handle the truth?"

"I've rubbed off on you in the worst ways, you know," he pulled her tighter. "Before we were together, you were really lacking in a lot of confidence because of all those other guys."

"I had some though when I was GM…you know, before it was ripped away from me."

"I still apologize for my part in that in the beginning," he told her, "I know how much you loved that job and working with Stephanie. Then it was all taken from you."

"I made out okay," she told him, hugging his arm a little bit tighter. "And at the end of the day, I did get stronger because I found you, and we found us, and it's worked out. I'm the Diva's champion, and someday, probably soon, you're going to be the World Champion or even the WWE Champion. You know I think you'd make a better one than Daniel."

"All in due time, I guess, can you even imagine what would happen if I tried to speak up and get a title shot?"

"We're living in a dictatorship, but I don't think Stephanie is really a part of it, but…well, no more of this talk, we'll rule someday, but for now, I guess we just try and survive," she shrugged, "and be happy when we're away from work. We should go to LA soon so you can get in some sets."

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly; it was nice to have such support. He was still nervous every time he went out there, but it was getting easier and he was getting better, and, without fail, whenever he did a set, AJ's laugh was the loudest, and the one he could pick out in the crowd. He was pretty positive he could tell her someone died and she'd laugh simply because she thought he was the funniest person in the world.

"I'd like that."

"Me too, I think you're hilarious, you can make a career out of that when you retire far, far into the future," she told him.

"Speaking of the future, I was thinking I might challenge Dean for his title for Night of Champions."

"Really? The US Title?" He could tell from the tone of her voice that she believed he was better than that title, and while he agreed, that wasn't why he wanted to go after it, that's not why he wanted the match.

"It's more the principle of it, you know," he started, trying to find the words to explain it adequately. "This guy keeps coming after me, hell, they all do, but I don't have a tag team partner anymore, so why not take what he loves the most, his title. Without the title, they're nothing really, so why the hell not? I'm not scared of them, and if I take their title, it'll just prove that."

"Or it could make their wrath even worse," AJ pointed out astutely.

"Yeah, it could, but how can it possibly get worse than right now? Everyone is too afraid to do something, to speak out so why the hell not?"

Well, as it turned out, the why the hell not included matches that threatened your career. Dolph and everyone else watched as Cody called out Randy for not wanting to defend his title against Daniel then watched as Cody's career was put on the line. Dolph knew that could have easily been him. After the past couple weeks of constant punishment, any wrong move, Dolph felt like he could be the next one out the door. He wouldn't be in dire straits if that happened, but this was what he loved.

To be forced away from the business he'd worked so hard to get into would be disastrous. He'd worked so hard to get where he was. He'd tried working as a caddy, as a freaking cheerleader just for the opportunity for something more. He'd given up relationships for this. Maria had been a really nice girl (if not a little dim), and he'd had fun with her, really liked her, and liked dating her, plus she was really hot, but she was getting in the way of his professional life, and at the time, working to be the best was everything to him.

The same had essentially happened with Vickie, although their relationship had been more business than anything serious, he'd liked her once upon a time, but again, she got in the way of his work, and so they turned their relationship professional because he could not keep focus on his matches when Vickie wanted him to do her bidding. So that relationship or whatever it was failed, and by the time it was over, he was hiding his relationship with AJ.

AJ was the love of his life. That's simply what she was, and if he were fired, he didn't fear that things would end because they were solid and in a really good place. What he feared was the repercussions of anything he did falling to her. If he got himself fired, AJ would be the next target, he just knew it. She was already putting so much pressure on herself to be the top diva, and with the championship, everyone already wanted a piece of her. If this Corporate machine wanted to hit him where it really hurt, they would hit him where his heart was.

And that was firmly with AJ.

"Again, not scheduled for any matches, it's getting pathetic that these women don't want to face me," AJ put her title down as she scanned the schedule again. "I swear, it's getting to the point where all they want to do is talk backstage about their show. You know, I bet I could take that Eva Marie and JoJo down in one match, me against them, God, it'd be easy…and satisfying and…what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Dolph said, but that didn't work with AJ any longer. He was sitting, slightly hunched, his elbows on his knees and his index fingers were tapping against his lips.

"Liar, what's wrong?"

"I don't have anything booked tonight," he shrugged.

"Again?" she scanned the schedule again. In her own anger, she forgot to see if Dolph was doing anything. "Are you kidding me? They can't do this to you. I don't understand any of this. I don't know why they keep trying to say things are good for business. I really should go to Stephanie about this."

"Babe, stop trying to fight my battles for me. It's only going to get you into more trouble, alright? It's okay, I can do something on SmackDown, I'll appeal for a match, knowing how much or little Hunter thinks of me, I figure he'll want to put me in a match."

"Yeah, one with the odds stacked against you again," AJ sunk into the couch next to him. "I just…it's like there's no free reign around here anymore. Everything has to pass through Corporate, and it's sapping all the fun out of everything."

"Don't worry about me, just worry about you and what's going on. You know one of those Total Diva chicks is going to want to challenge you for the title, right? You're going to need to focus on that match, the title is important to you, and I don't want you to lose focus because of what's happening to me. That's why we're not together out there anymore."

"That doesn't mean I get to stop worrying about you out of the blue," AJ told him, knocking her knee against his in a companionable gesture. "I'm still going to worry about you because we're kind of, sort of still together, in case you haven't noticed the 115 pound girl in your bed."

"There are a lot of girls in my bed, it's hard to keep track." She shoved him in the side. "I just…I'm not happy, you know, with what's going on with me right now. I shouldn't be in this position, I should be the champion. The crowd is behind me, but then…they're behind Daniel too and look what's happening to him."

"I know, and you're good for business, look at your face." AJ grabbed his face in her hands. "Look at you, you're like a freaking Greek god or something, you're gorgeous. I don't even know how you look at me and think I'm pretty enough for you."

"Shut up," he said, his voice slightly distorted

"Come on, we're going to be proactive, and we're going to walk around and look like we own the place, and intimidate people," AJ told him. "If we're not going to be on the show, we'll make sure everyone knows we should be."

"Okay, that sounds good actually."

"I know, that's why I thought of it." She stood up and extended her hand to him. He grabbed it and she made a big show of pulling him off the couch. She grabbed her belt, slung it over her shoulder and pulled him out of the room. They walked down the hallway, arms wrapped around each other, and acted like nothing affected them.

Soon enough, Josh was coming up to him, asking if he could give an interview. Seeing as how he had nothing to do on the show, Dolph figured any exposure was good exposure. AJ nodded encouragingly at him, and he walked over to wait for Josh to introduce him. He was just about to speak about where his head was at when Brad Maddox interrupted his interview to talk about his attitude. Dolph couldn't believe this peon had the audacity to call him out on his attitude.

Brad barely let him get a word in, and when Dolph tried to say something, Brad stuck his hand up to try and tell him to stop. Dolph just didn't care anymore, what did he have to lose at this point, he wasn't on the show, he was never on the show anymore, so why not make a little bit of noise, maybe not the same noise Cody did, but Brad was pretty low on the totem pole of power. He told Brad that if he didn't move his hand, he was going to break it.

In retaliation, Brad said he was going to have a match against a mystery opponent. That was fine with Dolph, actually, that was great with him because he wanted a match, he craved a match, and he'd face anyone. He didn't care who it was because he knew he was better than everyone around here. And it would give him the chance to prove he was the best thing for business. He was the one with talent, charisma, and the it factor.

"I got myself a match," Dolph said as he aggressively grabbed AJ's hand, pulling her along now.

"What just happened, I couldn't hear," AJ said, since she was standing a bit away from where he was. "Who are you facing?"

"Mystery opponent, element of surprise, he thought it'd be fun, with my luck, it's going to be The Shield again."

"Don't worry about it, you'll hold your own, he didn't say it would be a handicap match again."

"He didn't say it wouldn't, but it's fine, this is what I wanted, a chance to prove myself, and I'm going to do it."

"Yeah, okay," she said, but remained unconvinced.

Unbeknownst to AJ, on the other side of the arena, the Total Divas crew was having an argument about who would get to face AJ at Night of Champions. Stephanie, who was walking around like she owned the place (oh wait, she did, so she was just walking around) started to hear arguing, and she wondered what was up. She turned the corner and saw a bunch of divas arguing. These were the same divas who not so long ago were asking to babysit her daughter. Now they were going at it like cats and dogs.

Stephanie walked over, trying to split them up, wondering what was going on. They started all complaining to her, and she tried to calm them down because she couldn't possibly understand what was going on if they all talked at once. What she got out of it was that they were all mad over what AJ said on Monday. While Stephanie couldn't totally agree with what AJ said, she was proud of her for saying what she felt and for being so strong.

The girl she'd worked with last year showed signs of this woman she was now, but it had only been hints. There were times when Stephanie could see that she could be so much more than she thought, but the combined rejections of Daniel, Punk, and Kane broke whatever confidence she really had in herself to the point where Stephanie used her more as a puppet than anything else because there wasn't much more to her than a lumpy mold of clay. She was different now, stronger, tougher, more willing to speak her mind.

AJ would attribute it all to Dolph, but Stephanie knew that most of the transformation was because of AJ herself. While having Dolph's support certainly helped, it was AJ who made the change, who found parts of herself that she'd thought lost. That's why AJ was thriving as the Diva's champion right now. She was gaining that strength to do what she needed to do to remain the top diva.

Stephanie had to be diplomatic though, at least right now. She was about to go out to the ring and call out Big Show for being a wuss, and she didn't need this. She didn't need a bunch of catty women fighting it out backstage trying to figure out who would face and probably lose to AJ. So she decided to do what was best for business and make a triple threat match to be the number one contender. Nattie would be in it, obviously, and since Nikki was injured, Brie could represent the Bellas, and because Cameron was a horrible wrestler, Naomi could represent the Funkadactyls.

That was very good for business and it shut them all up.

"AJ!"

AJ turned around. Dolph's match was about to start, and she didn't want to miss it. They still had no idea who he was facing, and while he was ready for a fight, she was not ready to see him get hurt because she had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Britt was walking towards her, and she smiled at probably the only woman here who she could actually meet eye-to-eye.

"Hey, Britt, how's Punk doing?" AJ asked, knowing that Britt knew she wasn't interested in Punk at all anymore. It didn't mean she didn't keep tabs on him since they had an uneasy truce at the moment.

"Angry, ready to kick some ass, you know the drill," she said with a shrug, "but I have business stuff for you. Stephanie just made a match for the number one contender to your title. It's going to be Natalya versus Naomi versus Brie, just thought you'd like to know."

"Great," AJ groaned, "Just the three I wouldn't want to go after my title."

"Sorry," Britt shrugged, "but I thought this was information you'd want."

"Do you think it would be okay if I did commentary?" AJ asked, a plan forming in her mind even as she spoke.

"I don't see why not, I'll give you clearance, it'll be fine with everyone I'm sure."

"Thanks," AJ said, "oh, before you go, you think there's something up with Stephanie too, right? I can't be the only one, can I?"

"No, I don't think you're the only one, but…I really don't know, she's…kind of really liking this power thing, but who knows with her, right? She's always got something cooking."

"Yeah, she just told me last week that if Dolph wanted to say something, he should, and it's kind of tripped me up, but whatevs, thanks for the heads up."

"No problem, later," Britt gave a short wave, and wandered off again. AJ turned back to the monitor just in time to see her boyfriend getting attacked by Dean. Damn it, she should have known it would have been some Shield member, and after Dolph expressed that he wanted to challenge Dean, it made sense that it would be Dean to ambush him like that.

She wished she was still out there. She would have jumped on Dean's back and put him in the sleeper hold. She might be slight, but she knew how to wrestle, and she was fairly positive that Dean wouldn't hit her. But instead, she had to stand back here and watch it, and wait, now Ryback's music was playing. His match wasn't against Dean! Dean was just the one who attacked him. Ryback came down to the ring, and made relatively quick work of her boyfriend.

"Tough situation he's got going there."

AJ whirled around and saw Seth and Roman standing in front of her. They both towered over her, and at one point, she would have been a little flustered, but now she was just livid. "I hope you two are enjoying being Triple H's lapdogs."

"We don't work for nobody but ourselves," Seth told her.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that when you stand in front of the ring and do everything that Triple H says," AJ said, "now if you'll excuse me, a real champion needs to get through."

AJ knew that probably wasn't the smartest idea, and it could get Dolph into trouble and not her, but she wasn't going to take their crap…or anyone's crap for that matter. She went to the gorilla to wait for Dolph, and he hobbled backstage and she went over to him, hugging him around the waist. He winced a little, and she looked on concernedly, but he brushed her off.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Nothing a little ice and a massage later won't take care of, Dean knew I'd think it was him the match was against, which is why he did that, I'm definitely challenging him for his title."

"Good."

"Wait, now it's good?" he asked as she helped him back to their locker room.

"I had a run-in, a small one, with Roman and Seth a little while ago—"

"What! Oh, no, no, no, no, no, where the hell are they? This ends tonight, I don't care if I get fired, nobody is going to confront you and—" It was her turn to stop him, pressing her hand against his bare chest.

"It was nothing. They came up to me, just talked to me, they didn't try to intimidate me then I humiliated them, not in front of an audience, unfortunately, but I kind of did because I'm kind of amazing," she said proudly. "I took care of it, now let me take care of you before I go out there later for commentary."

"Commentary?" he wondered. "Um, who exactly are you doing commentary for? Did E get a match?"

"Divas match, long story, either way, I won't be facing any of them because none of them are worthy."

That was her mentality going into commentary. None of them should get a shot. None of the divas out here was worthy the title, let alone a title match. They just walked around thinking they were hot shit because they had the E! cameras following them around and they got to do all this press. _She_ was the top diva because _she_ had the title, and it was a gross oversight by everyone to even consider these divas the top divas right now.

So nobody was going to get a shot.

When she saw a pin about to happen, and probably a win, she got into the ring and attacked Naomi and Natalya. She held her own against them, but then Brie got involved and suddenly she was ambushed. Perhaps she should have told E and Layla to be around in case this happened, but foresight was a bitch. She hadn't thought ahead, and that was the problem, she thought as she got pummeled by the stupid Total Divas. She laid on the mat after the assault and knew she had to go about this differently.

She was just one person; she needed more people.

The referee helped her hobble backstage, and before she could think, a pair of arms scooped her up. "Ziggy, I'm fine."

"You're going to the trainer's, just to get checked out."

"Weren't you icing your arm?" she asked.

"It's iced enough, any more and I'd be drinking beer out of it," he told her, walking quickly, which made it necessary for her to wrap her arms around his neck. "Are you okay?"

"Well, we might be having children what with everyone targeting my midsection, but we don't even like kids, so maybe that'll work out, besides, you don't wear a cup so who knows if you can have kids."

"Please, I'm super fertile I bet," he told her kissing her cheek.

"I have to be smarter next time."

"Oh, next time? You mean you're planning on ambushing them again?"

"Yes, I do, but next time, I'm going to have help."

"Layla?"

"No, bigger."

"Bigger, E?"

"No, I mean, more people," AJ told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You're going to recruit people?"

"Yeah, I am. There are plenty of divas around here not on the show, and you know most of them would be dying to be on it," she told him, "I just have to appeal to their jealousy, use it, manipulate it, and reap all the benefits."

"When did you turn into an evil genius?"

"When my title was threatened," she said as they arrived at the trainer's. "Now it's all about self-preservation."

"So you're going to use them all to you own benefit."

"I have no other choice."

Unfortunately for her, that wasn't the only thing she had to think about. Stephanie made a match for Night of Champions, a match AJ never thought she would make. She'd thought Stephanie was on her side, that at the end of the day, Stephanie would always be on her side. But a Fatal Four Way match? That meant all the odds were stacked against her. All three of them could target her, and take her out of the match.

Holding onto her title just became a lot harder.


	5. Shutting It Down, September 9, 2013

"Hey there, Lil Bit!"

AJ made a face as she stepped up to hug her brother. "I'm 26, stop calling me that!"

"Yeah, and I'm still older than you," he said, pulling away from her and pressing his hands to her shoulders. "Let me look at you. God, it feels like forever since I got to see you. Way too long, actually, you look like you need sleep."

"I'm getting sleep when I can," AJ shrugged, "I have a really rough schedule, you know that, but I sleep and I eat, and I do all the things that mean I can survive. Come on, we better get out of here before the cops tell me to leave."

AJ walked to the trunk of Dolph's car, popping it open. Her brother walked over and put his suitcase into the trunk, "Is this your car?" he asked.

"No, this is Dolph's," AJ said of the BMW she was driving, "I know, it's kind of a little flashy, but I don't mind driving it, I don't usually because you know how much I hate to drive, but he doesn't care that I use it. He also has a 2004 Chevy Cavalier that he keeps in the garage, he says it's the first car he ever bought with his WWE money so it's special, but we don't drive that."

"So you share the one car?"

"Yeah," AJ answered as she closed the trunk and walked to the driver's side as her brother climbed into the passenger seat. "We usually go places together while we're home, so one car is enough. We're looking into getting me one though, just so I have one in case. We were thinking a hybrid since I don't want anything like this, too fancy for my tastes. But we spend so little time at home, we'd rather just spend it relaxing."

"Relaxing…"

"Yeah, the road can be hard, I mean, you know how it is being away from home, not that I'm comparing of course," AJ said as she started to pull out of the airport. She was glad to get away from the traffic, she hated that. Dolph had offered to pick up her brother, but since it was her brother, she felt like she should pick him up.

"Of course," Robert nodded, "So you just…live in Phoenix now?"

"Most of the time, yes, I still have my place in Tampa, but usually we fly here unless it makes more sense to fly there or if I have things I need to do there. I've been thinking about just doing a change of address, and maybe just have my bills and things sent here. We're still talking about it."

"You are? The both of you?"

"Well, yeah, we're a couple, we discuss things like adults," AJ told him, wondering what was with the third degree.

"And so that means you giving up everything to move here to Phoenix when you were happy in Tampa?" he wondered. "You were closer to Mom and Dad there too."

"Mom and Dad are in Puerto Rico, I'd hardly call that close, Robert," AJ rolled her eyes, "I still don't get to see them that much, if at all because it's just too far away. And it wasn't like he forced me to move to Phoenix, he asked me because he wanted to be with me because he loves me. And I love him so I said yes."

"I don't like him."

"What?" AJ turned to look at her brother for a moment.

"Your boyfriend. He seems like a cocky jerk," Robert told her. "And do you think I haven't seen how he tweets you on the internet where anyone can see?"

"Robert, come on, that's just joking," AJ laughed, "we just joke around, and cocky? Yes, he is cocky, and a jerk? Yes, he is a jerk, but he's not when he's not around other wrestlers, and he's never been that way around me."

"Oh, really, you mean when he would call you names?"

"Half of that was us trying to hide from Vickie, who hated me, and I didn't want him to get in trouble with her."

"So again, you doing stuff for him."

"No, me wanting to do things for him because he's my boyfriend."

"He's not good enough for you."

"Yes, he is, and you don't get to decide who's good for me or not," AJ argued. "He's the best thing to ever happen to me. I love him."

"But look at you, you practically do everything he wants, and Erica told me that it was his idea to have this thing where you break up onscreen and he treats you like crap every week and you look like the bad guy."

"It just played out that way," AJ said, "he's not like he is onscreen right now. That's not who he is. And never does anything for me? He's the one who sat with me all night long in a coffee shop listening to how broken I was…and at the end of that, he didn't run away. He hugged me, he walked me up to my room, and he asked me out to dinner. He's fought my ex-boyfriends on my behalf. He's taken up _my_ battles because he loves me. He took me when I was broken, and he made me strong again. So don't even tell me that he's not good enough, Robert, or I swear to God, I'm going to kick your ass."

"April, nobody is going to ever be good enough for you," her brother said. "This guy though, he doesn't seem to have anything in common with you at all."

"No, he doesn't, but we work," AJ told him. "You don't even know him."

"Okay, I don't, I'll give you that."

"Yeah, and he's welcomed me into his life, so I need you to welcome him into yours. I also know that you're the scout because nobody in the family has met him—"

"Why is that?"

"Because you all live out of the way," she said, "it's not that we don't want you guys to meet him."

"What about his family?" Robert asked. "What do they think of you?"

"They love me, I love them," AJ responded. "I see them often. He has two brothers, Briley and Donny, and they're great, Briley is just like Dolph, even though he doesn't want to admit it, Donny runs a pitbull rescue, and he's great. His parents are wonderful, his mother, Kelly, loves me, I'm very welcome in their home."

"Well, at least there's that," Robert said as AJ rolled her eyes.

"Can you at least try to be nice?" AJ said. "He's not a bad guy, I know how he comes across, believe me, before we started dating, I thought he was the biggest douchebag on the planet, but I was wrong, and you're going to be wrong too, and I just want this visit to go well, and you're coming to my work with me, with us, and I just don't need the drama, and he definitely doesn't need it because he's been going through a rough time."

"I'll be civil, don't worry."

"Thank you," she told him. "I want you to like him, I want you all to like him. He means a lot to me, Robert, like…like more than anyone has ever meant to me."

"I said I'll try…you really have strong feelings for him because you've thought you had strong feelings for people before, I mean, you did kind of propose—"

"I was not in a good place back then, I felt like…I felt like if I didn't cling to those guys, they would leave me or not want me, you don't know what it's like, Robert, okay, it's just, there's so much pressure on me, and I just lost myself after Daniel. I thought he really cared about me, I thought…he was the first guy who ever really wanted me, okay? When he humiliated me, it was…soul-crushing. It was just soul-crushing."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring that up with you."

"I know, and it's okay, it's getting easier to talk about that time in my life, and I was a mess, and I came off like a mess, and I know you guys tried to help me, and I know I was stubborn, but I just…you're my family, and I felt like you were obligated to feel for me."

"So Dolph just swoops in and suddenly everything's better?"

"No, suddenly everything was not better, but it was nice to have someone who listened to me. I don't think he intended to be anything more than a friend to me, but things from the beginning with him were different, and I feel like myself again. Plus, I feel like I can be myself around him. I don't have to cling to him because I fear he'll leave me. I don't have to be something I'm not because I think he'll hate the real me. I'm good here, Robert, I'm really good."

"Okay, I will really try to be nice to him."

"Thank you," she said. They drove the rest of the way making small talk about how her family was doing, and all the things that were happening. Finally, AJ pulled into the driveway, and Robert peered out the window.

"So this is your house now?"

"Yes, this is where I spend most of my time," AJ said as she got out of the car, grabbing her bag out of the backseat as she opened the trunk. Robert grabbed his stuff and they made their way up the walkway, Robert looking around at everything. They walked up to the door, and there was a note taped to it. AJ pulled it off to read it. _In the shower, breakfast keeping warm in the oven, hope your brother likes French toast!_

"What does it say?" Robert asked as he watched the smile spread on his sister's face.

"He made us breakfast," AJ said, "he's in the shower, he was probably doing weights since he does his cardio on an empty stomach, unless he hasn't eaten, but he probably has. When he cooks, he's the worst because he eats while he cooks then thinks that he eats a light dinner and I tell him he didn't because he ate all through cooking."

"You guys know each other pretty well."

AJ shrugged as she opened the door. She walked in and ushered Robert in, telling him he could leave his stuff by the door for now. "You live with someone, you tend to pick up their little quirks, I guess. He has to put up with mine." AJ started walking towards the kitchen, and saw Nacho lying in his dog bed. He barely lifted his head when she walked in. Typical.

She went to the oven and opened the door, grabbing an oven mitt so she could pulled the pans out. She put them on the counter and grabbed a couple plates. He'd also made bacon, which smelled delicious. Something she loved about Dolph was that he wasn't the type of person or wrestler that was completely meticulous about what he ate all the time. If they wanted burritos, they got burritos, if they wanted individual pizzas, they got individual pizzas. They just worked harder the next day.

AJ made a couple plates, and set one down in front of her brother before sitting down with him. "Nice of him to do this."

"We alternate a lot of the time, but he cooks more than me because he's actually better at it, probably because he's been living alone longer or he's just talented in everything he does, but don't tell him I told you that, Lord knows he'll hold that over my head," she laughed before digging into her food.

"He likes to think he's good at everything."

"The sad thing is he is good at most things," AJ said.

"Did I hear good at most things? Someone was talking about me, I think," Dolph said as he walked into the kitchen. "Oh good, you got my note."

"You mean the one hanging right in front of my face on our front door, that one?" AJ asked sarcastically.

"I put it at your eye-level, I was that thoughtful," he told her, kissing her cheek, "this is where you introduce me to your brother."

"Oh, duh, of course, I got lost in your eyes," she teased. Dolph stood up and she reached up, sliding her hand under his tank top and rubbing his lower back. "Babe, this is my older brother, Robert. Robert, this is my boyfriend, Dolph."

Dolph grinned and reached his hand forward, "It's really nice to meet you, and I have you to thank for her."

"Excuse me?" Robert asked.

"You're the one who got her into wrestling, which made her want to be a diva, which made her actually become a diva, which meant I could meet her," Dolph looked down at her and wiggled his eyebrows as she rolled his eyes.

"Oh God, you are the worst," she laughed.

Dolph was going to answer her when Nacho got off his bed and started whining, walking over to Dolph and nudging his head against his leg. "Okay, geez, Huevos," Dolph said, turning to Robert, "I'd love to stay and talk, but the kid knows that after my shower is his time."

"Nacho likes when Dolph walks him, plus it saves me the trouble of actually walking him," AJ explained.

"I'll be back in like 15," he said to AJ, who nodded. Dolph turned to Robert, "I'd love to talk to you about what she was like when she was younger, she says she was nerdy, and I need to know for future reference how nerdy she can get."

"Don't tell him anything!" AJ said, waving her arms.

"Okay, I'll be back soon," he leaned down to give her a peck on the lips before he grabbed Nacho and headed towards the garage. AJ watched him go until he was out of sight before turning back to her brother.

"Nacho likes him?"

"Loves him, he's more Dolph's dog now than mine, the traitor. Dolph's entire family is a dog family though so he never minded Nacho, he loves him. This is their ritual when we're at home. Dolph does his morning workout, he showers then Nacho expects his walk."

They finished up the rest of breakfast, put their dishes in the sink and AJ brought her brother upstairs so he could settle in. She lead him to the guest bedroom, showing him the bathroom, and where everything he'd need was. She left him in there, going downstairs to load their dishes in the dishwasher and put away the leftover food. Robert put his things away, looking around a little bit. He could tell the room wasn't used often, but it was clean enough. He used the bathroom before going to head downstairs to talk to his sister.

He looked around, trying to take in where his sister lived now. The house itself was bright, lots of natural light streaming in everywhere, and it was clean, not that he necessarily believed she was living in a hovel. Thought it wasn't over-filled with furniture, it still had a warmth to it that he actually liked, and there was a lived-in feel even if he knew they probably weren't here more than a few days a week. He meandered towards the kitchen, hearing voices, and though he wasn't an eavesdropper, he found himself pausing and listening in.

"So did I make a great first impression or an even better than great first impression?" Dolph asked her.

"You made an impression."

"He hates me?"

"No," she said, but sounded unconvincing. "He kind of…sort of…didn't like you before he set foot into the door."

"Ahh, one of those brothers."

"What?" she asked him, laughter in her voice.

"I just mean he's one of those brothers that doesn't want to see his sister with someone. If I were a girl and had a younger—wait, why did I make myself a girl in that scenario—"

"Because of your secret desire to be a diva, I think that's the only explanation for you wearing that women's tank top on national television," she told him.

"Yeah, you're right, but if I were me and Briley or Donny were girls, I would be the same way. I would absolutely be so protective over them, so I get it…I get that he probably doesn't like me, and that's actually okay, it's not him I care about."

"He could make your life a living hell. He knows how to kill a guy with his bare hands, you know," AJ reminded him.

"Still don't care, at the end of the day, it's only you I care about. If I'm doing whatever I can do to make you happy, I'm not going to worry about what other people think. If I listened to other people, I never would have been with you in the first place because I would have believed everything they said about you."

"He'll be nice to you, I'll make sure of it," AJ said. "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"Me? Feel uncomfortable? There are only a few situations where I feel uncomfortable, like when strange women ask me to touch their breasts."

"Well, that was uncomfortable because you know I would kick you until you were super uncomfortable," AJ told him with a laugh. "Hopefully by Monday, he'll warm up to you. I mean, he's going to have to since you are _so_ intent on marrying me someday, whatever that means."

Robert was a little surprised that marriage came up so easily between them. He didn't even know his sister was considering marrying this guy. Was this really the kind of guy his sister wanted to spend the rest of her life with? He still wasn't sold on this guy. He just didn't seem the type of guy who wanted to commit to one woman for his entire life. What if he ended up cheating on her or breaking her heart?

He just wanted the best for his little sister. After last year, watching her pretty much self-destruct in front of God and the world, he didn't want to ever see her like that again. He never wanted to see her so out of control. He wanted his sister to be happy and with a healthy mind. He didn't want her kissing guy after guy trying to find the right one. Granted, she'd been with Dolph about ten months now, but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"I'm so intent on marrying you because I'm _going_ to marry you, and you're going to get that date tattooed somewhere on your person."

"How about my inside lip?"

"Oh, so it'll fade, yeah, got it," he said as she laughed then started giggling. "No, don't you even dare, my brother is here, and I don't want him catching us doing anything."

"I wasn't doing anything, I kissed your neck!"

"That's too much, need I remind you the whole can kill you with his bare hands thing?"

"Okay, okay, got it, hands off the merchandise, this will be an exercise in restraint."

"You can do it, I have faith in you."

"Love you."

"Mmm, I love you too," AJ said, and her brother sighed. His sister at least sounded happy.

AJ played interference the rest of the time they spent at home. It wasn't like the two men couldn't be left together, but AJ just felt more comfortable if she was there because she didn't want an incident. The two men acted civil like Robert promised, and she could tell Dolph was really making an effort to get to know him. She appreciated his efforts, and she rewarded him handsomely at night for trying, which she suspected only made him try harder.

"Hey, babe, why don't you go pick up the food?"

"What? Me, no, that's okay, you can go, I trust you not to forget the wontons this time."

"I know, but, you should go get it," he said, giving her a look. AJ's eyes widened and she made a face, scrunching up her lip. He nodded, and she gave him another look to make sure and he nodded forcefully. She reached up and hugged him around the neck.

"I love you."

"It's not like he is actually going to kill me, babe, I'm just going to talk to him," he whispered in her ear. She grabbed the car keys, gave him one last look and left. Dolph went to the fridge and grabbed a couple beers, figuring that might ease the tension a little bit. Robert was sitting out on the patio, and Dolph couldn't blame him, that's usually where he and AJ ate dinner when the nights were nice, and Robert had just been on a personal call. "Hey, man, beer?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks, where's April?"

"She went to get dinner," Dolph said, sitting down at the table, "I thought we could talk."

"Do you drink often around my sister?"

Dolph laughed, "No, no, I don't, I know she doesn't drink, and I don't like being drunk around her."

"Okay," he said, taking a sip of his beer. "Why are you with her?"

"You know, nobody's ever asked me that before," Dolph said, "I think everyone just assumed that because she pushed John Cena off a ladder for me, I had to return some favor and date her, which is a ridiculous reason to date someone. We'd been together months before that happened, and it just…we didn't want to hide it anymore, _she_ didn't want to hide it anymore and she did that and I just…was in awe of her. I think I've been in awe of her ever since."

"You hated her though."

"Yeah, I did, well, I didn't hate her, I just didn't know her. I thought she was the biggest nerd on the planet, and she is a really big nerd, and she thought I was this huge douchebag, and I am a huge douchebag, but…she was unexpected," Dolph chuckled as he thought back to when he didn't like her. "I thought like the rest, I thought she was crazy, and I thought it was gross how she went after so many guys, but…when you see a girl crying by herself in a coffee shop in the middle of the night, how do you just walk past that?"

"What were _you_ doing there?"

"Got hungry, room service was over, saw her there, and I just…felt so responsible for it, even though it wasn't just me, and yeah, a part of me went up to her because I felt guilty, but the guilt didn't make me stay with her for hours or laugh at her witty comebacks, and it didn't make me walk her to her hotel room to make sure she got there safely, and it sure as hell didn't make me ask her out."

"So you just—"

"Robert, your sister is the most important thing in my life," Dolph confessed. "Wrestling lately, it's been kind of sucky, I've got this target on my back, and if she wasn't here, God, I'd probably be fired right now, but your sister she gives me the support I need. I love doing stand-up, but I never would have ever tried it because I was so nervous until your sister encouraged me. She's not what I thought. I know you don't trust me or whatever I am to your sister, but I intend to prove you wrong. I've been proving people wrong my entire life, why stop now?"

"I want my sister to be happy."

"At least we're on the same page with that. Trust her though, she is way stronger than I think anyone realizes."

AJ hooked her arm through her brother's. "Are you sure you want to stay back here the whole time and not sit out there?"

"This way I get to spend it with you," he said, "I want to spend my time with _you_. Are you wrestling?"

"I don't know, Ziggy, can you grab a schedule?" AJ asked. She was so excited to show her brother everything. She knew she wasn't beloved and didn't have many friends, but she could still show him around. Dolph grabbed a couple and handed it to her. AJ skimmed it and sighed, "Nope, I don't have a match, but I'm going to get on commentary, I have to make sure that my face is out there."

"I like the way you think," Dolph said, scanning his own copy, "well, at least I have a match."

"Bray Wyatt," AJ said, squeezing her hands into fists. "Why do they keep doing this to you! I don't know what's going on in anyone's heads anymore."

"It's okay, I'll be fine."

"They attack people," AJ said, letting go of her brother so she could stand in front of her boyfriend, "We still don't know where the hell Kane is. They're creepy. And they're just putting you in matches like this to mock the fact that you're alone out there, it's like Stephanie is preying on what she knows about us, she knows that I want you to be safe, and she's taking advantage of that, plus her stacking the match against me."

"Babe, we're getting ahead of ourselves here, look, I'm just in trouble for what I said because the Corporate machine knows that I'm right, they know that there are certain opportunities for some people that others don't get."

"You shouldn't be punished for that though, like…it's such a dictatorship around here. I hate it," AJ said, turning back to her brother, "I'm sorry, Robert, it's just Dolph has been getting put in these matches for weeks now, and it's frustrating."

"She's more frustrated than I am," Dolph joked. After whatever conversation Dolph had with her brother, the tension had eased a little. Robert still seemed wary of Dolph, but he at least joked around a little bit with Dolph. She didn't know what was said, neither one would tell her, but she hoped Robert believed whatever Dolph told him.

"I don't know why you're just accepting it, this isn't you!"

"Babe, I don't want to lose my job," Dolph said, "they hold all the cards right now, and you saw what happened with Cody last week, we can't afford that to happen. I don't want to lose my job here. This is all I've ever dreamed of doing."

"But every week, they deliberately set you up!"

"I know," he told her, "but right now, that's what I have to put up with, and it sucks, and I wish it were different, but it could be worse, I could be Cody, I could be Daniel, this is nothing, I've risen up before, I will rise up again."

"You don't even know how Bray is in the ring," AJ reasoned.

"That's the least of my worries, I can go with anyone. It's the two weirdos with him that worry me."

"What if they kidnap you!"

Dolph had to laugh. He knew her brother was right there, but he leaned down to kiss her anyways, "I love you, babe, but come on, do you think I'm really going to get kidnapped?"

"Kane did!" AJ couldn't seem to keep her volume down in this conversation. Even her brother wanted to start laughing at her, but he'd known AJ his entire life, and he knew better than to mess with her when her temper flared. He was kind of curious to see how Dolph dealt with his sister in these situations. "The lights could suddenly go out and you disappear, and where the hell would I look for you?"

"Um…backstage? You could probably outrun Bray Wyatt in the heels that you so hate wearing."

"They could like…lock me in a room so I can't get to you."

"That's a lot of trouble to go through, and why would they want to kidnap me?"

"Because you're so pretty, I don't know!"

"Babe, come on," he said, running his hand over her head. "I'll be fine, I mean, I'm going to get beat up and probably beat down because the numbers aren't in my favor anymore—"

"And Stephanie knows that, and she knows that I'm not going to be out there."

"Don't go out there, I don't want you out there, I don't care if people think we're broken up and you don't care, don't go out there, I do not want you out there with two guys who are bigger than you, and that Sister Abigail thing, if anything, they probably want some chick with them, and I don't want that chick to be you. They'd probably make you grow a beard or something."

"Don't joke," she smacked him in the stomach, "this is serious!"

"Yeah, it is, but it's my serious, not yours, you want to do commentary, you do that, you show them _again_ who is the bitch in charge, got it?"

"Okay, fine, but I'll be right backstage."

"Of course you will."

AJ was. She was right backstage, giving the evil eye to Stephanie McMahon, even though Stephanie wasn't looking at her and looked distracted. AJ couldn't blame her because earlier that evening, Hunter had The Shield beat up Christian, and AJ had a feeling that Stephanie did _not_ order that one to happen. Dolph being targeted she could understand at least, he was outspoken, brash, sometimes gave his real opinion too readily, but Christian? Christian was one of Stephanie's best friends, and that had to be something of a shock to her.

"He's really good in the ring, I'll give him that," Robert said, oblivious to his sister staring at Stephanie McMahon.

"Yeah, he is, which is why he should be champion still…I screwed that up though."

"Was he mad at you?" Robert wondered. He'd watched the show that night, his sister's first Pay-Per-View title defense. Their entire family had been so proud of her, so ecstatic that she kept the belt. Then later that night, she'd tried to protect her boyfriend, costing him the match, and they all watched in stunned silence as he left her there, standing alone in the middle of the ring. He was loath to admit that was part of the reason he didn't fully trust Dolph.

If the guy was so willing to just walk away from her, leave her sad and alone because she was trying to protect him, what other circumstances were there where he'd leave her alone like that. Erica told him the next day that everything was okay with them, that she'd talked to AJ and she told her that they were fine and had a plan. The plan was dumb, he thought, but they were still together.

"Yeah, for a little while, but we made a pact to not run away from our problems. He came back to the hotel room, we slept on it, and we were okay the next day. We talked about it, and he was just upset, and he apologized," AJ shrugged, her eyes going back to the match. It was not a fun memory, but AJ was over it now. She was still happy, and that's what counted.

Dolph was able to hold his own, and AJ was happy that for the most part, Luke and Erick were staying out of it. That didn't mean Dolph could stop thinking about them though, but this was becoming a common occurrence during his matches, even the ones where he was facing Ryback. He constantly had to worry about outside interference, and it made him long for AJ and Big E a little bit. AJ would not hesitate to jump on the backs of either of these guys if they interfered and Big E could lift them and throw them pretty easily.

But it was just him out there, and while Bray was not even half the wrestler he was, Luke and Erick were looking to interfere and that's where he ran into trouble. He had to handle them on the outside of the ring, which kept his eye off Bray inside of it. Under any other circumstance, he would have won, but with a 3-on-1, he hardly stood a chance, and as he lay there in the middle of the ring _again_, he thought about how he might want to start toeing the company line a little bit more.

He never thought he'd be the kind of guy who might give in, who would betray his own self, but this was getting to the point where he was breaking down. It was such a mental strain constantly dealing with multiple people around him. He was doing the best he could, but he almost picture Hunter sitting backstage laughing at him, thinking he was so much better because he could make matches like this. Maybe he just needed to give in…

His girlfriend did not share the same mentality. As her brother watched, she marched over to Stephanie. "What is your problem?" AJ asked.

"AJ, please," Stephanie pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've heard it from everyone tonight, I don't need one more person, alright, look, just…I didn't plan the thing with Christian—"

"Christian? No, I mean whatever personal vendetta your ex-husband has on my boyfriend."

"Oh, AJ, I can't focus on that right now," Stephanie told her, "look, I'm sorry, I'm trying my best here, and look, I'm just overwhelmed, and I can't…just…look, Dolph is coming backstage right now."

AJ whipped her head around and saw Dolph hobbling down the steps from the ramp, and she rushed over to him, "Come on, let's get you to the trainer's."

"My home away from home," he quipped.

"Don't remind me," AJ said, looking over one last time at Stephanie who looked more haggard than AJ had ever seen her. "Robert, you coming?"

"Yeah, sure, might as well see what the trainer's is like…"

By the time the diva's match rolled around, Dolph was freshly showered and dressed and, while a little sore around the edges, he was eager to see AJ on commentary. He loved hearing her speak her mind on the other divas and in general. His girlfriend had a sharp tongue, and he loved seeing her use it (he also loved seeing her tongue do other things, but that was neither here nor there). Her brother had asked if there was a way to see her in the arena, so she brought him around to the side where he could stand and watch, but still be out of the way.

She went out there, people cheering for her, and she actually kind of liked it. It'd been so long since she got cheers, and it was nice to see that people were behind her and not the Total Divas. She wasn't saying they were bad, but they didn't have the passion like she did. She was the one who wanted this more than anything, and she didn't need some show to prop herself up. She sat down at the commentary table, and put on the headphones.

What happened next was kind of a blur. The announcers had always been a point of contention with her and Dolph. They treated her like crap, and it bothered him to the point where he would watch his matches on mute so he didn't have to hear them talk constantly about her. For AJ, she'd heard everything in the book so none of it hurt anymore. She blocked it out because she knew her own self. She saw this as an opportunity for payback.

When she mentioned her tattoo and the meaning behind it, Lawler asked her, in his typical creepy manner, if she had any other tattoos, and with how little clothing she wore to the ring, he was obviously asking if she had any in her private areas. Disgusted by him, not just tonight, but always, she told him off, saying at 26 she was far too old for him since he liked them young. Lawler was stunned, stuttering out that she was too ugly for him.

In another life, that would have hit her so hard. If this was last year when she was at her most vulnerable, something like that would have felt like a death blow. But she had all the confidence in the world now, and she knew he was grasping at whatever straw he could, and apparently that landed on the weakest insult of all. Dolph called her beautiful all the time, and Dolph could probably get any girl he wanted, so to be called beautiful by such a beautiful guy was enough to more than cancel out what Lawler said to her.

The comment seemed to set off JBL too, who tried to play the jealous angle. What did she have to be jealous of though? She was the diva's champion, she'd main-evented several Raws, she had a boyfriend who adored her, she was in a really good place in her life, and so she told him off too, taking no prisoners. She was the champion, and they sat behind a desk like the Total Divas walked their precious red carpet.

When she was through cutting them down to size, she made sure the divas knew what was up and who was in charge. She felt satisfied with herself until she walked backstage and Dolph looked like he was about to murder someone. "What's wrong?" she asked, walking over to him.

"I'm going to kill him, them, both of them, but especially Lawler."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?"

"What he said, you're too ugly for him, are you kidding me!" Dolph was fuming, his face turning red in anger. Robert wandered onto the scene, but hung back. "I'm sick and tired of it, Jeannie. I'm staying right here until the show's over and then they're both done."

"Dolph, baby, please," AJ pressed both her hands to his chest. "Didn't you hear me out there, I held my own—"

"They shouldn't have said that shit in the first place," Dolph told her, "this has been going on for a year now, and I'm sick of it, I'm sick of hearing about how you're some kind of slut when we've been together almost a year. I'm sick of how they call you crazy, I'm sick of them trying to knock you down because they can't handle that you're strong."

"I know, I know, but you could lose your job over this, you're on such thin ice right now," she tried to reason with him.

"I don't care about my job!" he said irately. "I don't want it if I have to hear them talk about you like that one more damn time. I can't take it, I won't, no…"

"Baby, come on," she ran her hands up and down his chest, hoping she could find some way to calm him down. "We both know it's not true."

"Yeah, but then it's broadcast to millions of people so they think the worst of you, and ugly, ugly! On what planet are you ugly?" he asked, running his tongue over his teeth. "It'll be worth it when I break his face."

"Okay, no, you're not," AJ put her foot down now. "We're not going there, we're going to our locker room, we will watch the show _calmly_, we will take my brother, who I know is watching this, I know your presence, Robert, to dinner, and things will be okay."

"But—"

"No, I don't care, baby," AJ said, "let them try and talk shit about me, I know who I am, you know who I am, that's all that matters. I know I'm not ugly, I think I'm pretty cute, and I know that I've been in the main event, and I know I'm better, and we'll just calm down and move on, okay?"

"I don't want to because they won't stop."

"I don't care," she shook her head, "and you won't too…say it…"

"No."

"Say it…"

"I won't care," he said grudgingly as AJ even though it was clear he did care and very much so. She stood on her toes so she could hug him. He hugged her back, burying his face into her neck as she ran her hands through his hair. She felt him relax against her and knew the anger was dissipating finally. "I love you," he mumbled into her neck.

"Yeah, I kind of figured Mr. Tough Guy," she responded and he laughed.

Robert was starting to think he'd been very wrong.


	6. Resistance, September 16, 2013

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and such. Friendly reminder that I really only go by what I see on Raw/SmackDown/Main Event/PPV, so anything else it left up to my interpretation. Hope you enjoy the chapter, reviews would be lovely. :)

* * *

"Get in here!"

AJ squealed and raced to her boyfriend's arms, burying herself into his women's tank top (she was never going to get him out of this damn tank top) as she grinned widely. They said it couldn't be done. They said that she wasn't going to retain. All the odds were stacked against her from the beginning. Stephanie put her against three women who ganged up on her. The people she thought might be her friends all but abandoned her, and she was out there with nobody to protect her, no Layla, no E, no Dolph. And she still prevailed.

"I am so proud of you," Dolph said as he cradled her head against him. She felt him kiss the crown of her head and she grinned even wider, if that were even possible at this point. "You went out there and you did what you had to do to win."

AJ pulled away and looked up at her boyfriend in happiness. "Now we just need you to win that title, and we're going to be like a cute mini-power couple or something."

"I'll try my best," he chuckled as he saw the other divas trudging their way backstage.

"That should be mine," Natalya said, eyeing the belt.

"Oh really, Nattie?" Dolph intervened. "You know what I see right now? She beat you," he pointed at Naomi, "she beat you," he pointed at Natalya, "and she definitely beat you," he pointed at Brie, "although it was touch and go there since she probably thought she was tripping when she saw that outfit you're wearing."

AJ giggled as she looked at them all staring at Dolph agog. She wrapped her arm around his waist and held up her title, "And this is still mine, sorry you guys couldn't beat me, try harder next time, it'll give me a little bit more of a challenge."

"Now, I'm going to go make out with my girlfriend before my match, but Brie, I'm sure you'll find Daniel's mouth somewhere in there, Naomi, try not to get face paint all over your mouth, and Nattie, does your husband even work here anymore? But if he doesn't, I'm sure Jaret will pick up the slack, later, bitches," Dolph wrapped his arm around AJ's shoulders as she threw them a look of surprise and happiness over her shoulder.

"You're amazing," AJ told him.

"You did all the work out there, I figured I'd do some of the work back here," he told her. "You were great out there, you knew they would beat up on you and you used that to your advantage by letting them take each other out, and going in for Nattie when she was doing that double sharpshooter, genius because she had to concentrate so much on that move that she never even saw you coming."

"I know, like, can you say wanting the spotlight, that's the only reason why she did that. If she was smart, she would have taken them both out so she could have pinned them, but it's alright because I got the win, and you'll win your match."

"I'm not so sure."

"No, don't talk like that," she told him, stopping him right there in the hallway as she made him turn to her. "Even though you're bigger and better than that belt, you are going to win regardless. This losing streak can't last forever, okay, remember that losing streak earlier this year, and what that led to?"

"Yeah, me getting a concussion right when I thought things were going well for me," Dolph sighed.

AJ hated seeing her boyfriend like this. For the past few weeks, she'd had to be the strong one, and it was a strange position for her to fill. She was used to being the one who was weak and needed propping up, so for the reverse to happen, it was a different role for her in this relationship. While she was always supportive and believed in Dolph in everything he did, this was her needing to be the one to build him up, like he'd built her up when they first started dating.

He would never take the credit for that though, and she wished sometimes that he would because she wanted him to know what an impact he made on her life. Sometimes he could be so stupidly humble while other times he was so obnoxiously cocky. She stepped forward and gave him a hug, just a simple hug, no flirty intent, no promise of sex later, just a hug like she would give to anyone she loved deeply.

"You're better than everyone here," she told him, pulling away and looking up into his face. "Your win-loss record doesn't determine your talent and ability nor does being what's best for business in the eyes of management. Stephanie and Hunter are whacked out on power and without Chris here, nobody is reining her in. They don't know you."

"Yeah, I guess."

"No, no, no," she told him, reaching up to cup his cheek. "Stop with the negative attitude, okay, I believe in you. If nobody else in the world does, which they do, you have so much support, you could shake a stick at it—"

"That makes no sense."

"I'm trying to make a point here," he said, and he took her in for a moment. She was disheveled from her match, her hair half over her head and falling into her face, where she didn't bother to brush it out of the way. Her shirt was rumpled and she'd hooked the belt around her waist where it hung loosely on her hips. He was so used to her wearing it, he hadn't even noticed she'd been holding it as they walked since it was slightly too big on her. "God, you're beautiful."

"Plying me with compliments, way to deflect," she rolled her eyes, "come on, let's get out of the hallway before you get jumped by some angry boyfriends. Luckily that Vincent guy isn't here, he'd probably get drunk and try to take a swing at you or something."

"You're really getting catty, I think I have too much influence on your life."

"Maybe, but you know what, good, I like that, and I like you, and I like your chances later. Dean may be pretty good-looking, and the whole tactical outfit thing is pretty cool…but you're better, plain and simple, you're better."

He tried to be better. He tried to keep his mind focused on the match, but it was difficult because he kept expecting Roman and Seth to show up, for them to sneak up behind him and overpower him again. Their specters shaded over the entire match, and it was hard to shake that feeling of being set-up. That didn't make for a good match. That didn't help him get his head into this. There was also that nagging feeling that he was above this. He was World Champion just a few months ago, and this wasn't where he wanted to be.

It was one thing to want to steal the show, but it was another feeling like you couldn't do that when you thought the match wasn't something you wanted. He felt out of place recently, teetering between being something and being nothing. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, maybe even before he was with Vickie. He just felt kind of lost since he and AJ decided to focus on their own careers. He was loath to admit it, but he missed her out there with him. He just…needed her somehow.

He knew he still had her, and it was silly to lament over it when he knew she was watching him backstage, when he knew he'd get into bed with her tonight, when he knew that in a couple days they would fly to the home they shared, but it was different all the same. Somehow having her there, pounding the mat, cheering him on, making sure that nobody interfered, it was comforting in such a strange way. Now he was by himself, and he just felt a little bit lost.

That didn't stop him from trying though, it would never stop him from trying his hardest and his best out there. It just felt like his best wasn't good enough right now, and he had to find what made him so great in the first place. It didn't mean he stopped thinking about AJ, in fact, he even tried to do her Black Widow move, although his didn't look half as graceful as hers did. When she locked it in, it was like poetry in motion, her swinging through the air, locking it in perfectly, making people tap.

When he tried to do her Black Widow, he looked like an elephant, clumsy and all over the place. He wasn't nearly as graceful as she was, he actually had to pull himself around, he couldn't hook his leg around Dean's head, and he couldn't reach his arm. All in all, it was a disaster, and his attempt at a little homage to his girlfriend ended up with him giving up and hoping he didn't look foolish. Of course, he looked foolish soon afterwards when he lost in a match that he should have won.

He trudged his way to the back and without even taking a few steps, he felt her small arms around his neck. Sometimes, a lot of the time, pretty much all the time, it felt like him and AJ against the world. "You tried my submission hold," she giggled against his neck, and somehow that small giggle tore away at layers and layers of crap and disappointment.

"Tried being the operative word," he mumbled into her neck.

"It wasn't bad considering you've never gotten to try it on anyone," AJ told him, "I've done it on you plenty of times, but it's not like you could have tried it on me since I can't carry you. You should try it on Briley tomorrow."

"I lost."

"So what?" AJ said. "You were better than that title anyways, and you can always try for something else. We just need to get you on a winning streak and we'll be great."

"Streak, I'll settle for one win at this point."

"Okay, we'll focus on that first one and we'll build on it," she said as if she was still out there with him, as if they were still a cohesive team. "We'll get that first one, and we'll go from there. You're a winner, we both know this, you still hold records from high school and college, and you know what, that makes you really good at this."

"Not lately though."

"We all have those kinds of times," AJ reminded him, "last year, I was blowing through boyfriends like napkins."

"Blowing through?" he smirked.

"Oh, gross, stop it," she told him, grabbing his hand as they went back to their locker room. "You're better than that title, you're better than Dean, and you were only off your game because you thought Roman and Seth would be lurking close by in case things got hairy with Dean."

"How did you know?"

"Because I know you," she shrugged as if the answer should be obvious, and it should have been. AJ knew him better than anyone at this point, that wasn't even something that could be disputed, it was printed fact. "Now get showered so we can get out of here, it's about a two and a half hour drive to Cleveland, and I'd hate to make your mom wait up."

"Oh great, I have to see my mom and she'll be all…mom-like about me losing all the time."

"That's not a bad thing, besides, you and your brothers are all Mama's boys anyways, she'll make you feel better then she'll make you pancakes or something tomorrow morning, and you'll feel better."

"You act as if this is really nothing, but I haven't won since I beat you and E."

"It doesn't matter, you'll get back to winning, and do you know how luck you are, a ton of guys would at least love the opportunity to go for a title, you're really good, and you deserve those chances, and you'll get back into the World title picture, or maybe even the WWE title picture."

"I wish. Why are you even with me?" he scoffed, continuing to walk until he noticed AJ wasn't walking next to him anymore. He looked over his shoulder and she was almost glaring at him, her eyebrows knitted together as she stared at him, her arms folded against her torso.

"Are you serious?" she asked him. "Because if you're serious, I will spend the rest of the night telling you why, and you don't want that because by the time we get to Cleveland, I'll hate you and you'll hate yourself, and we'll back at square one."

He laughed, and it felt good to do so after a loss, "No, I'm not serious, babe."

"Good because I've been compiling a list and you don't want to hear it," she jogged to catch up to him, taking his hand. At least he had AJ, he thought to himself, a thought that became almost a mantra over the last few weeks. Whenever something troubled him, whenever he felt down about something, he just told himself that at least he had AJ. He shuddered to think how he'd feel if he was alone. He'd probably just have to sleep with a lot of women.

"I kind of do," Dolph said as he let AJ pull him along.

"No, you don't, it's cheesy."

"I like cheesy."

"No, you don't, you hate corniness, unless it's one of your jokes."

"You take that back," Dolph said as they went into their locker room.

"Tomorrow, you're going to get a rematch," AJ said, "you're going to demand a rematch and you're going to win, that's what is going to happen tomorrow if I have to go to Stephanie McMahon myself."

"She could easily strip you of your title, you know?"

"No, she won't," AJ said, "she knows I'm the best thing going, she wouldn't dare."

"You're playing with fire, babe, we all are right now."

"Yeah, and that's how we're staying relevant."

Dolph got showered and changed, and he and AJ set off for Cleveland. Even though she hated driving, it was late enough that AJ felt comfortable being the one to drive, especially since Dolph's match lasted longer than hers, and he was tired. He knew the way pretty well from Detroit to Cleveland, but once they hit the suburbs, she was able to navigate easily since they visited his parents often. She noticed he was drifting off as they got to the city limits of the small town outside Cleveland where he grew up. She pulled into his parent's driveway, noting that the front light was on, like it usually was when they arrived late and she turned to her boyfriend and shook his shoulder.

"Yo, sleepyhead," she shook him a little harder, "get up, we're here."

"What? Already? But I haven't come up with some excuse so my mom will let you stay in my room. I was thinking you could just say my brother's rooms all smell."

"Yeah, well, one of them is occupied by…your brother," AJ said, "so I'll have to sleep in Donny's old room, but I'll sneak into yours."

"Sounds sexy," he told her, "I'm still never comfortable sleeping in the same room as you when my parents are in the house. I feel like they think we're having sex, which…I mean, my mom never needed to hear how athletic I was…"

"I never needed to hear how athletic you were," she got out of the car, going around to the trunk and popping it open so she could grab her things, knowing full well that as soon as she did, Dolph would grab them for her. "I don't even know why she said that, it's not like you're _that_ athletic."

"It's because you're a sex kitten," Dolph shrugged.

"This is not what a mother needs to hear," Kelly said, coming around the car, "so I'm just going to chalk this up to a sleep-deprived hallucination."

"God, Mom, next time, make some more noise, bang a pot or something, don't sneak up on people in the middle of the night," Dolph said, going over to hug his mother. "And you heard nothing, AJ doesn't even touch me half the time."

"We hold hands, but only on special occasions," AJ assured Kelly, hugging her as she came over to greet AJ. "Is everyone else asleep?"

"I want to say Briley is, but he's not," Kelly said, "but he's a grown man. He needs his own place here if he's going to be wrestling around here for a while."

"I'll get him out, we'll smoke bomb him," Dolph smirked.

"Never again," Kelly pointed a finger at him as she started to walk inside. Just as she suspected, as soon as AJ leaned down to grab her bag, Dolph was there first, grabbing it for her and throwing it over his shoulder. He didn't even look at her because this was his normal behavior. She closed the trunk and followed her boyfriend inside. "I can't wait for Raw tomorrow, so I'm just going to let you two get to sleep. You know where everything is, right?"

"You mean I don't have to sneak AJ up to my room, yes!" Dolph pretended to fist pump.

"I'll let it slide just this once," Kelly winked, "I'll see you in the morning, and Dolph, sweetie, you should have won tonight, make sure you win in front of me, I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the other mothers. I need to tell them my son is a winner, not a loser, and you really should ask for AJ's help if you're going to attempt her move, it got a little sad out there."

AJ tried to hold in her laugh, but snorted instead. Dolph turned to her, "Shut up, Lee."

"Don't talk to your girlfriend like that either or she'll never teach you how to be a better wrestler, goodnight you two."

"Night, Kelly," AJ said as Dolph stared at the two women in disappointment.

The next night, Dolph felt good. Yes, he'd lost the night before, yes, he'd lost the week before, and the week before that, but there was something so exciting about having his family there that made him smile. His brother was backstage, visiting with friends, and AJ was still out with his mom and aunt to lunch (and his mother mentioned dragging AJ to go shopping to which AJ gave him a look of desperation), but he was home, and it felt nice to be here, right almost.

"Hey," Britt said, coming up to Dolph, handing him a schedule. "You've got a rematch against Dean tonight, not for the title, but if you win, you're definitely due another shot."

"Thanks," Dolph said as Britt turned to walk away, "wait, hold on, um, did AJ go to Stephanie or call Stephanie to arrange this?"

"No," Britt said, "she didn't have to, I have the power to do this kind of thing now, Stephanie trusts me. I thought it would be a good match, so I put it on the schedule, Stephanie agreed with that, but maybe not for the same reasons. Look, I know things seem…pretty bad around here right now, and Stephanie is…getting a little out of hand, but I talk to Chris, and he's still level-headed, I wouldn't worry about things in the long run."

"Good to know someone is looking out while the reign of terror continues."

"Well, I have a lot of theories, but…well, it's not worth getting into," she shrugged, "good luck tonight, you looked really good last night, and I really thought you were going to win."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to hit on me," Dolph raised an eyebrow.

"Not sure that my boyfriend or your girlfriend would like that, besides, you're not my type, get a few more tattoos, go back to your natural hair color, grow some wicked sideburns, lay a few pipebombs then we'll talk."

"Okay, okay, got it, not your type, thanks for the match though, I appreciate it, I really do."

"Win tonight, AJ told me your family will be out there, give them a good show," she winked at him before leaving.

He had to seize the opportunity tonight. The Shield and specifically Dean Ambrose had their time, and now it was his time. He wanted to be the one winning again. The past few weeks things had not been in his favor, that was the problem, he just had to convince himself, no, he had to remind himself that he was the Show-Off. Just because he'd been put against team after team after team didn't lessen that. He felt off his game, but he was on his game, he was on his game with the odds stacked against him.

He went to his locker room and changed into his trunks even though the show wouldn't start for a while now. He wanted to get warmed up, he wanted to be in the best shape he could be before the show started. He was going to show Dean, show The Shield, show Triple H that size didn't matter, that numbers didn't matter, and he was going to do that in front of his family. For the first time in weeks, he felt like Dolph Ziggler again.

"Babe," AJ stuck her head in the room, "oh good, you're not naked, it's okay, Kelly, you can come in." AJ opened the door and she and Dolph's mother walked in. "Just had to make sure and all that. Your mom took me shopping, I bought some jeans and stuff."

"Nothing sexy at all?" he asked.

"Eww, gross, no," she made a face and sat next to him, giving him a kiss in greeting as Kelly took a seat on one of the folding chairs. "You're all dressed up."

"Britt told me you got me the match against Dean again, thank you."

"You deserve the chance to beat him," she linked her arm through his. "One win at a time, right, why not start with the person who has been bugging you for a while now? I only wish I could be out there with you."

"You two were silly for breaking up like that, you were much better off together."

"I'm glad we're not," Dolph told his mother.

"He's scared for me," AJ explained. "He has this target on his back now, and that's why Hunter keeps putting him in these matches. Hunter doesn't like what he said after Randy cashed in. He thinks that if I start going back out there with Dolph, I'm going to be next on the list."

"She's a champion," Dolph had to put his own input into this so his mother at least knew the entire story. "If she goes against them, against the machine by being out there with me…she's already sticking her neck out there, I don't want her to go down with me."

"He think I would get stripped or something."

"Stephanie already put you into a Fatal Four Way match, think of what she'd do to you, think of what Hunter might do to you if you start coming out with me, if you interfere on my behalf."

"She's not going to strip me of the title, she wouldn't do that, I mean, I know Stephanie is getting off on the power right now, but she wouldn't strip me of the title."

"Wouldn't she? And if not, she would certainly send everyone after you. Babe, I love you, but you haven't exactly made many friends in the division, Total Divas or otherwise because of how good you are, and how prominent you've made yourself."

"I'm the face of the division, they would not take that away from me, I wouldn't let them."

"How would you go against them? You are going to take them all on?"

"Yes, because I'm me."

"Look, right now, they're letting you do your own thing, and you're doing it well, you won last night, you've held the belt for months now, you've beaten everyone who's tried to come in your way, don't try and help me and make them notice things."

"I'm sorry that I want to be there for you!"

"Okay, enough you two," Kelly had to step in after watching them have a stupid argument. They were still young, and their relationship was still under a year old so they still had things to learn about each other. And judging from the look of things, they were both passionate people. "You're having a very silly argument, Dolph, AJ _is_ perfectly capable of taking care of herself—"

"Thank you, Kelly," AJ interjected, giving a face to Dolph, who just scoffed.

"But, _but_, Dolph is looking out for you, AJ, and he wants what's best for you, what he thinks is best."

"I don't hate him or anything," AJ intimated, "I just hate watching it sometimes."

"I know, and I hate that you're out there with all those women wanting what you have, but what can we do?"

"Nothing is what you're going to do," Kelly said, "you're both going to go out there and do your best, and that's all you can do. Dolph, I really do think AJ has things handled pretty well. I mean, I think you're the complete package, you have the passion for this, that's what's going to let you keep that title for a long time. You want this, I see it in you just like I saw it in Dolph when he was a little boy. That's why you both will be champions and at the top of your game. You seem like what a diva should be."

"Thank you," AJ blushed.

"Of course, the only real exposure I've had to the divas before you was Maria, and I'm not quite sure…she was…all there…"

"Mom, she was nice," Dolph said.

"Oh, no, of course she was, she was very nice, she just…well, we don't need to worry about her, now do we?"

"Better not," AJ threw Dolph a look, but laughed. "I have my own things to think about tonight, I still have my title, but everyone is gunning for me. I'm on commentary with Nattie. God knows what she's going to go on about, maybe her new shoes or something. With my luck, it'll be heels."

Dolph leaned over and kissed her temple. "You'll annihilate her on commentary, and if you want to maybe get in some digs at Lawler, I wouldn't hate you for that."

"Always," AJ laughed, "your son almost beat him up last week."

"I couldn't believe he would say that to you, if I were here, I might have beat him up for you both," Kelly said, "talking about you like you're ugly, the man needs glasses or maybe he doesn't because then he'd see things clearly and go after girls even younger than he already does."

"And this is why I love your family more than you," AJ grinned at her boyfriend.

"I knew you only loved me for my family."

After visiting with them for a little while longer, Kelly got the text that said the rest of Dolph's family had arrived. His youngest brother and father couldn't make it, but his aunt and a few cousins were here to see the show, and Kelly went to go be with them, leaving Dolph and AJ alone. It gave him the opportunity to properly kiss his girlfriend for what felt like the first time all day. Indeed, it was the first proper kiss he'd given her since they'd been in bed this morning.

"You look better than you have in a while," she observed.

"It's being back here, it's always kind of a thrill being in my hometown, knowing that I used to be in those seats, kind of like when we go to New York or New Jersey, local kid makes good, and my parents are here, there's nothing like that."

"Kind of like me being out there with Robert last week, and someday, I'm going to wrestle in front of my parents, and that will be the best day ever."

"Hey! I thought those twenty minutes were the best day ever."

"Second best day ever, sorry," she said, giving him a hug. "I _know_ you're going to win tonight."

"Jeannie, you've said that every match I've had since SummerSlam."

"It's becaue I always believe you are," AJ told him, "but tonight, I really, _really_ believe it."

"That doesn't mean I'll win."

"But it doesn't mean you'll lose either. Just promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Don't try the Black Widow again."

So he went out there with a better mentality than he'd had in ages, since AJ was by his side really. It felt like his family was by his side this time around. He smiled at his mother as he slid ringside and climbed in the ring. She was cheering madly for him, decked out weirdly in his shirt with his brother's shirt underneath. AJ had presented his mother with a custom t-shirt that was styled just like the kind of thing Dolph and she wore, but it looked odd with Briley's shirt underneath it, but she wanted to represent both her sons.

Dean was already in the ring, and they faced off against each other for a moment before going at each other. Like their other bouts, Dean was able to get in some early offense, overpowering Dolph, but he was ready this time, and he wasn't going to worry if Roman or Seth would show up. Right now, it was just him and Dean, one-on-one, and that was how he was going to look at it. He had to stop worrying about interruptions.

This served him well as he was able to get the upper-hand and make the match at the very least go back and forth. Dolph felt like he was getting back to where he needed to be. Hunter could think he was too small, he could think he wasn't championship material, but the people did, and someday, maybe they'd get behind him the way they were getting behind Daniel. Dean tried to put the finishing touches on this match, but Dolph was too quick this time, hit the Zig Zag and won. That was how it should have gone last night, that was how it should have been, but he got the win tonight, and AJ was right, start with the one win, just the one, and they could build on that.

He rolled out of the ring and went straight to his mother, giving her a big hug as she cheered for him. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in his ear and he grinned, yelling that his win had to happen sometime. He celebrated with his family some more, basking in it for a minute before heading backstage. Unlike the night before where she had to hug him in comfort, AJ squealed in happiness, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I told you, I _told_ you," she gloated, pulling away from him and grinning widely. "One win, we'll work with this, and we're going to get you back to the top, okay, and then there will be no stopping us, I'll have this belt, you'll have yours, and we'll be amazing."

"I thought we were taking this one win at a time, and now you have me winning the World Title again."

"A girl can dream," she told him.

"You just make sure you keep that," he pointed to her title.

She would keep it at least for tonight. There was a match she wasn't involved in, and she knew that soon there would be another contender, hopefully just one, for her title. She figured it would either be Brie or Nattie, but probably Nattie since AJ was the one who got her to tap the night before. She skipped down the ramp and past Dolph's family, giving a little wave of acknowledgement as his mother cheered just as loudly for her as she did for Dolph.

Since her parents had never seen her wrestle, this was the closest thing she was going to get to having a parent there to watch her. She wished she had a match though so Kelly could really see her in action. Unfortunately, she was just on commentary. There was a problem with Nattie's headphones, which somehow everyone blamed her for. How could she possibly do that? If she was still the GM, sure, she could have, hell, if she was still friends with Stephanie she might have, but how could she possibly have control over the sound system?

The mere thought of it was ridiculous, and if she were _that_ petty then she might actually need to get checked into an asylum. Nattie was just hell-bent on making herself look good. She thought if she made cracks about all the guys that dumped AJ, it would somehow hurt her feelings. Why did everyone think that? Why did everyone think bringing up her past would somehow damage her?

She wasn't damaged anymore. She was happy, and bringing up failed relationships didn't hurt her like it used to. That's all they were now, past relationships. Daniel seemed happy with Brie, and all the more power to him, hopefully he treated her better than she'd been treated by him. Cena was with Nikki, and that seemed to be going well. Punk had Britt, and they were stupidly happy, and Kane? Well, she still didn't know where Kane was, but wherever he was, she hoped he was happy. She was happy with Dolph, and Nattie's cattiness didn't bother her.

Nor did the stare-down after the match. AJ just held up her title, staring up at Nattie, not caring that the other woman was trying to intimidate her. She couldn't be intimidated. She was the champion, everyone had to go through her, and having the title meant she was the best, and why would the best be intimidated. Nattie had beat her a couple times, but the next time they met for the title, if that happened, would be different. AJ didn't and wouldn't lose.

After Nattie finally moved away, AJ skipped around the ring, stopping at Dolph's family and leaned over the barrier to give Kelly a hug. "Did you give them hell over there on commentary?" she wondered.

"You know I did," AJ said, pulling away and smiling proudly before she skipped back up the ramp.

AJ thought the night might be over for them until the very end of the show where everyone was gathered around to see Daniel's match. He'd been stripped of the title earlier, much to the disbelief of everyone. Daniel would never fabricate a plan to get the title, that wasn't his style. He won by his own merit, and everyone knew that. They way he was stripped of it didn't sit well with a lot of people, actually, not many people at all. So they all stood around and watched.

"We have to do something," someone said from across the room, and suddenly, guys were stepping up, saying they wanted to do something, yelling that they couldn't all be fired.

"I should go out there with them."

"Okay," AJ nodded.

"You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?"

"Because it's Daniel…Daniel Bryan, the guy who broke you," Dolph said.

"Yeah, but you're Dolph Ziggler, the guy who put me back together again. Look, I don't like Daniel—"

"I don't like him either," Dolph said, "I wish it were anyone else, but it's bigger than him, it's way bigger than him. This is about all of us at this point. If we're not what's good for business then what are we?"

"No, I get it, I do, I want you to go out there, issues with Daniel aside, this is for you too. I'm proud of you for doing it."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm so proud that you'll be standing up for yourself, I love you," she kissed him quickly before he tore away from her and joined the guys rushing to the ring to save Daniel from the same fate Miz incurred earlier.

Dolph felt strange being in a group. For so long, it hadn't been him and the bunch of good guys, it'd been him and bad guys, him and women, but never something for the greater good. He didn't believe in Daniel, he hated Daniel Bryan. He would probably always hate Daniel Bryan for everything he did to AJ, and it wouldn't matter how much time had passed because he held grudges. But like he told his girlfriend, this wasn't just about Daniel. Hunter made it perfectly clear that he didn't think Dolph had what it took to make it to the top, and he was going to prove him wrong. If this was the start of that, it was the start of it.

It still didn't mean doing the "Yes!" chant felt natural. It felt pretty unnatural and weird, and AJ would definitely tease him about it later, but he could deal with that if it meant he would be the show-off again, and if it meant he would be in the title picture, and if it meant he would show Hunter just who could make it in this business. He hadn't worked his ass off for 28 years just to be told he couldn't do it. He might get punished for this, but it was worth it. It was worth standing up for, it was worth getting in trouble for.

He was the show-off, and it was time to get back to that.


	7. Steph-AJ Feud Please, September 23, 2013

"So are we going to address the elephant in the room?"

"You mean the one you're currently pressed against?" Dolph asked lecherously. "Or is it that you're sitting there, way overdressed for what I want to do to you..."

"You just did stuff to me," AJ rolled her eyes, "and I'm only in my bra and underwear, that's not overdressed for anything."

"It is for what I want to do with you," he reached up and started playing with her bra strap, letting his fingers curl under the light blue stretchy fabric. He toyed with it a second, as if fascinated by the design of it and she watched his face as he pulled the strap closer and closer to her shoulder where it would fall down and give him what he seemed to want.

Sometimes he stared at her with such a reverence it took her breath away. She'd never been looked at like that, not ever. Sometimes she felt like she was the only thing Dolph saw sometimes. She remembered the night she pushed John off the ladder and how Dolph stared at her in awe and how he told her in that moment, the crowd became white noise in the background, and all there was, was just them. He had that same look on his face right now, like her body was the only thing on his mind.

It probably was though because she could feel him stirring beneath her. It was Saturday, warm outside, and they should probably get out of bed because it was nearing one in the afternoon, but it was just one of those days where they didn't want to. Their bed was comfortable, and theirs, so all the lumps and curves were made by them. And they just wanted to be around each other, which was why they'd also spent the morning having sex, and why she was currently straddling him.

She was in a bra because she'd had to take Nacho outside when he started whining to use the bathroom, and she quickly changed to bring him outside while Dolph continued to lay naked in bed. That was how she found him when she came back upstairs, and he'd pulled her back into bed, quickly divesting her of her t-shirt and pants, leaving her in her underwear and saying the view was much better. It was something kind of empowering that she was still somewhat clothed while he was naked, but that was another story for another day.

The strap finally found the curve of her shoulder and the beginning of her arm, hovering around the edge before finally toppling over. Unfortunately for her boyfriend, the cup didn't fall down and he was still left wanting more as his hand reached up and started to pull down her bra, but she stopped him right before he was able to get a nice, long look. He raised an eyebrow as if challenging her, and she grabbed his hand and pressed it to the space between her breasts.

"The elephant in the room, Ziggy…"

"I thought we were going to address that right now," he thrust up his hips to show her what she meant and she glared at him for a moment.

"Down, boy," she told him, leaning her head down so her chin was almost to her chest, one side of her mouth quirking up. "You're not going to distract me with that thing down there."

"You're not even going to pay the littlest bit of attention to him?" Dolph pretended to pout and AJ ground against him once, making his eyes widen, but she didn't do it again. "You're a tease. I have a good mind to—"

"To what? There's nobody else here, none of your five million girlfriends are around so you'd have to take care of yourself. Can we have five minutes and then you'll let me have my way with you?"

"Five minutes? That long?"

"I could take that very out of context, but we haven't talked about what might happen Monday at Raw. We're flying to Chicago tomorrow, and we haven't even talked about what happened on Raw or what happened on SmackDown."

"I got beat up, I held my own, and we kind of staged a coup on Raw."

"Where you did Daniel's yes chant," she teased. "You do remember when I had to do that too, while holding his belt and circling around him, right?"

"Hey, I felt as uncomfortable doing that as you did. It was weird being all…helpful, especially towards him, but we both know it wasn't for him. I would never do anything for him, not when he's competition, not when he's the guy who hurt you."

"I'm over that, you know, over all of that, last year was…it was a blur now, until the end, until you."

"I know," he told her.

"Do you think you'll get punished on Monday?" AJ finally asked the question she'd been dying to ask all week long. "Do you think they're going to do something to you?"

"Yes," he answered honestly because he knew he couldn't lie in this situation. "Yeah, I do, I don't know how, another beat-down by the Shield, maybe the Wyatt Family after me again, maybe they will do the worst thing they can do and put me in a match with the one person I don't want a match with…"

"E?"

"You," he told her. "If they wanted to completely mess with my head, they would put me in a match with you, no DQ if they wanted to be particularly cruel. But then, I'd probably just lie down and let you pin me."

"You usually do," she said, running her index finger down his chest to his abs, "but if they did that, I wouldn't fight you, you wouldn't fight me, but they could put you in a match like that, but that's all they've done the past few weeks, so you could take it. I just…I hate it, you know, everyone else does too, I think, I don't think there's one person who isn't scared…well, maybe The Shield and Randy, but even they have been pawns to Stephanie and Hunter's weird game or whatever they're doing."

"Are you still convinced that Stephanie has some sort of plan?"

"Yes, because the alternative, her just being a bitch, is kind of sucky since she's my idol and everything. I wanted to be like her, I still do, and sometimes, I think I am like her, taking no prisoners and what not, but…I don't know, like when I was GM, I made matches that probably favored people, but I didn't have them beaten like that. I sent Daniel to anger management, I didn't have him beaten down."

"That's because you're not a huge bitch like Stephanie, and she'd be the first person to tell you that. Whatever they do to me, as long as it's not a match against you, I will be fine. Unless they bring in my brother and have me fight him, that might get a little awkward."

"Probably won't do either," she said, "you don't think…you don't think you'll get fired, do you?"

"No, I don't think I'll get fired, I mean, why would they?"

"Because that's what they did to Cody," AJ said. "I mean, they could kill two birds with one stone. I have a feeling Stephanie might think I'm not good for business. I mean, she liked me well enough, but with the success of Total Divas, and all those women being featured and now getting to be well-known, who's going to want me as the face of the company?"

"I would," he told her, and she tried to muster up a smile, but in the face of losing her title, she couldn't do it. "One, you're beautiful, look at you, you're gorgeous, guys want you so much. For two, you wrestle, you are a wrestler, and isn't that what this should all be about?"

"Not for them."

"For me, it is, and you can beat all the other divas and prove you are the face of this company. I'd want your face everywhere."

"You do get my face everywhere," she told him, leaning down a little bit. "I don't want you fired though, if you got fired…"

"I would fight my way back in. There'd be no stopping me, and if not, well, I would join my brother, or I'd go into stand-up full-time or I'd go back to school and get that law degree I put on permanent hold. I have options, but wrestling is my priority, and it is what I'm going to do come Monday, and it's what you'll do because that's who we are, and that's what makes us so great."

"Okay, but let's say worse case scenario," Dolph groaned, and she made a whining sound, "Dolph, I'm being serious here."

"But I'm naked, and you're half-naked and I can see half your boob, this isn't fair!" he whined, and she grabbed his other hand and pinned both arms against the bed. He stared up at her with a grin because he loved it when she got domineering. Aggressive AJ was the sexiest AJ in his opinion. He also kind of loved that someone so small could be so powerful.

"I'm being serious," she told him, "Worst case scenario, you get fired, it could happen, let's not kid ourselves under this regime. They have your number, they might have mine too, and if they wanted to get to me, if they wanted to mess with _my_ head, they would fire you."

"I really don't think that's going to happen."

"But if it does."

"Like I said, I have a lot of stuff to fall back on, babe, I'm not going to be like, destitute or something," he laughed, "I'll be fine, and if I'm never hired back, I'll be mad about it, but I'm not going to let that show because I don't do that."

"I meant…if you're fired, and you're…and I'm…" She breathed out softly, a whoosh of air that brought with it understanding from Dolph.

"Oh…_oh_," he said, wriggling at his wrists until she let them go, sitting back up and staring down at him. He took her errant bra strap and pulled back so it was sitting on her shoulder. Then he sat up so they were face to face. She shifted herself and wrapped her legs around his torso and he ran his hands up and down her sides. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."

"But—"

"Babe, Jeannie, just stop," he told her, brushing her hair out of her face. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation while completely naked, but hey, sometimes you gotta roll with things."

She giggled and he leaned forward to kiss her. It was nothing overtly sexual or even really foreplay, a simple kiss, lips pressed against each other in a kind of comforting way. He pulled back and leaned his forehead on hers, closing her eyes as if he was trying to hear her heartbeat. She knew he was probably collecting his thoughts, but she liked to think romantic things every once in a while although she wasn't necessarily one for romance.

"You can put clothes on," she teased softly.

"Nah, I still plan to have sex with you when this conversation is mercifully over," he joked with her, and this time she didn't laugh softly, but heartily, which made him chuckle. "Babe, most of the population of couples in this world don't work the same job, and I know our job is different from most jobs, I know the travel, I know all of that, but it doesn't matter, not to me, not to us. If I were fired, which isn't going to happen, but if I was, nothing would change with us. Nothing will ever change with us."

"You say that now…"

"Don't be insecure about us, babe, okay, we're good, we're _great_, oh my God, I sound like Tony the Tiger."

"You didn't do the growl, you're safe," she told him, watching as he opened his eyes and stared at her, laughter dancing around in his blue eyes.

"Good, but hey, there's a career choice I could make, cereal endorser, if it works for Cena, it'll work for me," he told her. "We'll be fine in the very, _very_ unlikely event that I'm fired."

"But we'd be apart, and I'd be traveling, and you'd be here, and you'd probably find someone better or something because let's face it, I'm, at the core, an insecure, dorky, nerdy, tiny girl with hardly any boobs and no curves whatsoever."

"Yeah, you're my insecure, dorky, nerdy, tiny girl with hardly any boobs and no curves who is also funny, sweet, warm, kind-hearted, smart, and all-around great at everything," he told her, "and I'm not stupid, babe, I'm not stupid enough to turn that down."

"But if—"

"Blah, blah, blah. I love your stupid face, babe, and besides, if I get fired, I'll become a stand-up comedian and I will revolve my tours around your schedule. Wherever you go, I'll find a club and I'll work that club, and I will follow you anywhere you have to go."

"No, you wouldn't," she blushed.

"Pretty sure I would," he told her, "now can we please stop talking about this and get to what we're really both here for."

"Okay, okay," she said, then her face turned serious, "now lie down."

"What?"

"I said lie down," AJ told him and he just smirked and complied. "Put your hands above your head."

"Now this is what I'm talking about."

AJ laced her fingers through Dolph's as they walked through the door. There was an ominous feeling as soon as they walked in. Things were quiet. They'd been quiet for a while now. The shows lacked the usual buzz they used to have. There was no more fun to be had while everyone was scared for their jobs. That's what the new McMahon regime had wrought, an endless amount of fear that coursed through every wrestler and diva.

"Dude," RVD said, "they want us at the start of the show, man, everyone who helped Daniel last week."

"What do you mean they want us?" Dolph asked.

RVD shrugged in that careless manner of his, like he expected this and was just going with the flow. "Don't know, man, just have to be out there."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know," Dolph said. He could feel AJ's grip on him tighten, and he gave it a companionable squeeze as RVD wandered off. He glanced at AJ and shrugged while she looked up at him helplessly. "What can you do, right?"

"I won't let them fire you if comes to that, I will threaten to walk out with this title."

"Babe, you are not doing that." He let go of her hand and reached up behind her neck, his fingers brushing over her tattoo. "I would _never_ let you do that. If you showed up, I would literally lift you over my shoulder and bring you backstage. You've worked too hard—"

"So have you!"

"And I will continue to without my girlfriend defending me," he told her and she frowned at him. "I appreciate it, but it's unnecessary. I'll be fine."

"I'm going to ask Britt what's going on, she's still cool," AJ said, "I'll find you, okay!"

She was gone before he could even answer her, leaving him with all their stuff. He shook his head. He loved his girlfriend, but he'd never had someone _so_ defensive over him. He was absolutely sure that if given the chance, she _would_ go out there to defend him. He needed to ask E to make sure she stayed backstage, just in case.

AJ found Britt talking to Punk, and she felt a little out of place. She and Punk were not in a good place, and she wasn't sure they ever would be. She didn't really hate him anymore, and she knew that she was merely an afterthought to him, but still, it was weird. She was over him, but again, still weird. She watched as Punk leaned over to kiss Britt's cheek, and she waited until Britt got up and started walking in her direction. She backed up a few steps and started to walk, making it look like she hadn't been spying.

"Oh, hey, Britt, do you think I can talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure, I've got a few minutes, what's up?" Britt said, turning off the battery pack attached to her hip.

"Do you know what's going to happen with the guys who helped Daniel last week?" AJ asked. "I mean, I know on SmackDown, Vickie made that match, and Hunter stopped it, probably because he wanted to punish them under his own terms, and Dolph was one of them, and I was worried, and I just wanted…well, I wanted to know if you knew how they were being punished."

"They're not," Britt told her," well, at least they're not really. I don't know what Stephanie or Hunter are going to say at the top of the show, but they commissioned me to make time for an 11 on 3 match, it'll be all those guys and Daniel vs. The Shield in an Elimination Match."

"Are you…you mean…you mean it'll be all of them?"

"Yeah, I mean, Hunter wanted them to all have matches beforehand to kind of soften them up, so to speak, but Dolph doesn't have a match," Britt pulled a schedule from her clipboard. "So…I think…well, I mean, you know Stephanie."

"Yeah, I do," AJ said, "and you still don't have any idea what she's doing?"

"Not totally, but I think she kind of wants these guys to win in order to prove her father and Hunter wrong, but I don't know where her attitude plays into it, I mean, obviously she likes the power, we both know that—"

"Of course, she pretty much was the GM when I was the GM," AJ said, and Britt nodded. "I just…I don't know, this is really a turn of events, I thought for sure they were going to get fired, I was really scared for it."

"No, there are no firings tonight so you're safe from that," Britt said, glancing to the side. AJ looked over and saw Punk walking over. She averted her eyes a little as Punk leaned down to kiss Britt on the cheek again.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but can you tell me when Heyman and his two stooges get here, if they aren't already."

"No," Britt said, poking a finger in his chest. "No, no, no, you're not going to go sneak attacking anyone, do you hear me? I'm not having you go against Ryback and Curtis at the same time, you're crazy."

Punk grinned at her, "That's why you love me. But fine, I'll wait, and I'll call them out in the ring, and if the gutless wonder that is Heyman shows up, I'll break his face then I'll take care of the other two. I mean, what the hell is Ryback going to do to me, make me get in the shower?"

Britt laughed and rubbed her forehead. "Do not put that image in my head, please, Phil, for the love of God, do not put that idea in my head."

"Okay then, what's he going to do to me, slam me into a bowl of guacamole in catering?" Punk asked, and this time even AJ had to laugh. Punk turned to her, "Oh hey, crazy chick, how's your crazy boyfriend?"

"Good, good," AJ said.

"You know, just to say, Hunter's not right, not about any of them, well, okay, maybe a little bit about Zack Ryder, the kid is kind of a weirdo, but Dolph's a really good wrestler, just thought I'd throw that out there," Punk told her.

"Thanks, he would…not care what you have to say because he doesn't like you, but thanks."

"Yeah," Punk said, turning back to his girlfriend and leaving AJ standing there awkwardly. "Okay, I won't go after them…yet, but if provoked, I'm going to get them, and break them, all of them if I have to."

"Okay, yes, I understand, you will be breaking faces," Britt nodded, patting his cheek. She grabbed the zipper of his hoodie and pulled him down for a kiss. When he pulled away, he gave a short wave to AJ and left the two petite women to face each other again. "Hope that wasn't weird."

"I've got Dolph," AJ waved it away. "It was nice of him to say that though, it's kind of funny how he's been pretty much immune to all of this. I kind of wish Dolph was, but when you insult him like Hunter did, it only makes him angrier, and I know this isn't the end. I'm just glad there won't be any firing tonight, he'll be relieve, _I'll_ be relieved."

"Yeah, well, hopefully things calm down soon. I think Stephanie's a little drunk on power, but well, she likes it, we both know that."

"Yeah, we do."

"I have to go, but good luck in your match tonight," Britt said before wandering off, leaving a confused AJ in her wake. AJ skimmed the schedule. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

She was in a ten-diva tag match, five on five, and she could not believe this was what the match was. She had no problem beating any of the Total Divas, but they were all targeting her, and who was to say that all five wouldn't gang up on her. When the odds were stacked against her, she was about as effective as her boyfriend was when the odds were stacked against him. This didn't even bring up the fact that her own team probably hated her.

She had not yet forgotten them all abandoning her at Night of Champions, citing that they weren't her little army. Even Layla, who she thought she was getting close with didn't stick by her, and that hurt. She didn't know what it was about herself that seemed to drive people away, and she didn't know what it was about Dolph that made him stay. Her eyes scanned the participants, oh, Tamina? That was a new one. But the last time she'd encountered Tamina, the other woman was a lackey for Vickie, so that didn't bode well for AJ.

She stormed into her locker room, not even sure how she made it there in the first place. She crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it on the ground. Dolph was wrapping up his wrists and looked over in surprise, the paper landing near his feet. He leaned over to pick it up and saw it was a schedule. Scanning it, he didn't see his name for any matches, and he sighed. Being kept off matches was almost as bad as being beat up. He skimmed the rest and saw AJ had a tag match and realized why she was mad.

"You don't like your match."

"No, I don't, Stephanie is stacking the odds against me, I just know she wants me out, but I don't get it. If she does have a plan, if she wants Daniel to actually be the champion, why wouldn't she want me?"

"Maybe she does, maybe this is her way of…I don't know reverse psychology to make you stronger. If she makes you think you're weak, that makes you strong?"

"What?" AJ squinted and stared at him.

"I don't know, but look, you have four other people on your team, doesn't even mean you'll get tagged in, plus, you're all competitors, you'll want to win, so they're not going to walk out on you or anything, I'm just speaking logically."

"Okay, I'll believe you, but Stephanie definitely seems to have it out for me or something."

"Me too," he shrugged.

"Wait, wait, wait, I forgot, no, she doesn't, not tonight anyways. Britt said that Stephanie is going to put you in an 11 on 3 match, all of you who helped Daniel and Daniel against The Shield."

"There has to be some kind of catch."

"Well, some of the other guys will have matches on the show, I guess so they might not be good to go for the main event, which will be your match, but you don't have one, so you'll be fresh, and full of that anger that I know you constantly have. You'll also want to steal the show, especially with so many other guys around—"

"This is weird."

"Or it's all part of whatever the hell Stephanie is doing," AJ said. "Britt thinks she has a plan too, but you know, I don't know what that plan is, but if for one night you don't have the numbers against you, take it, baby, just take it and run with it, and win, I mean, it's 11 guys on 3, the Shield may be good, but even you have to like those odds, right?"

"I feel like there's still going to be a catch though," he said, "there's always a catch."

Was the catch him being called out as a wrestler? Apparently that was it. Dolph thought he was going to get more reprimanded, he thought there was definitely going to be some sort of catch. He'd tried to look remorseful when he walked out onstage, but he didn't because he wasn't. He did take a little umbrage with what RVD said about them actually fighting for Daniel. There was no way he was fighting for Daniel, and it pained him, _pained_ him to have to agree with Hunter and Stephanie about fighting for himself. He always fought for himself, and sometimes he fought for AJ, but she was the only person in this company he would fight tooth and nail for.

Yes, he wanted to be the face of the company, and that's what this was about, but he also knew that was a tactic they were trying to use. So while there wasn't a catch in this match, they were trying to use their own egos against them. The ol' divide and conquer. Dolph could sense what they were doing, and he wondered if the other men knew it too. Not that he was going to go rally the troops or anything, but Hunter and maybe Stephanie (who knew what the hell was going on with her right now) were trying to pit them against each other and against Daniel by applying to their own desires to be in the number one spot.

Dolph could wait for it, he could wait until Daniel had his moment in the sun, and when that happened, it would be about him, but it was bigger than him right now. It wasn't about him right now, but just the right to have the chance to make a name for himself without Hunter breathing down his neck about how tall he was. He was sick of everyone having this perception of what a wrestler should be when he knew he was better than whatever the company wanted.

AJ was wrong on one thing though, he might have a match. Stephanie and Hunter put him up for the vote in a match against Randy. He wanted that match, he felt like he deserved that match, but it wasn't up to him. If he could get in the ring against a former champion in Randy, against the person they wanted to be the face of the company, that would go a long way in proving that he was ready to step up and take that title from whomever was holding it. It was a great opportunity and one he wanted.

"They wanted to pit us against each other," Dolph told Kofi as they walked backstage. "That's their only plan right now, they know they can't beat all of us, and we'll only get stronger over time, so they're trying to turn us against each other."

"Yeah, we just have to make sure that doesn't happen," Kofi nodded.

Dolph spotted AJ out of the corner of his eye, and he slapped Kofi on the shoulder, "I'll catch you later, man, good…kind of being sort of friends again or whatever."

"Yeah, we'll see each other for the match."

Dolph nodded and wandered over to AJ, who linked her arm with his. She didn't have her belt with her so she was able to sidle up to him. "I'm glad you weren't fired."

"You knew I wasn't going to be. They're still trying to play mind games with us. I could see Stephanie looking straight at me when she was talking about fighting for Daniel, she knew that I wasn't, she was trying to make me the weak link, but I won't be."

"You aren't fighting for him though."

"Hell no, I'd just as soon beat that stupid goat-face of his, but right now, strength in numbers. We have them reeling. They know that we could stage some sort of coup so they're trying their damnedest to stop that from happening."

"I'm going to talk to Stephanie about my match."

"You're going to talk to her, are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm going to tell her what's on my mind."

"If anyone would, it would be you. Do you think that's such a good idea though, given the fact you think she's out to get you?" Dolph wondered. "I mean, you think she also has a plan, but maybe it's best if you leave well enough alone."

"I shouldn't have to be surrounded by women who hate me. Just put me one-on-one so I can take them all down in turn. That's what should happen. I can't handle all of them at once while I'm also tagging with women who probably hate me. I should say something, it can't be a bad thing to want some regular competition and not being stuck with everyone all at once."

"I'm not going to stop you, I mean, look at what I've done, besides, you're AJ Lee, you do things that you want to do whether people like it or not."

It was true, and that gave her confidence to go to Stephanie. Of course, that confidence quickly wavered when Stephanie handed off the DVD like she was actually happy with Hunter. She was also happy with Dolph and Stephanie knew that. Her confidence completely fell apart when Stephanie stepped into her personal space. AJ kindly asked her to get all up out of her business (in a nicer way!), but Stephanie said that the company was her personal space, and AJ _would_ be competing or her title might be in jeopardy.

AJ complied quickly, and was about to duck out of the room when Stephanie asked her if Dolph was really fighting for Daniel. AJ answered truthfully because upsetting Stephanie seemed like the worst idea right now. She left before Stephanie could say anything else, ducking out of the room, and only thinking about what Stephanie's face looked like when she answered. It was like she wanted to smile, and it was like she wanted Dolph to be the one to break away and say that he was fighting for himself, but Dolph said that was their plan. They wanted them to break apart because that meant it would be easier to break up this tentative alliance they all had.

But what if Stephanie just wanted someone to step up so she could execute her plan? AJ's brain her thinking about it, and then she had to deal with Dolph being upset he wasn't picked for the match against Randy. Dealing with that, she simply told him that it meant he'd be fresher for the tag later, and that seemed to appease him. Then she had her own match to worry about, and as she looked across the ring, she could not count on any one of these people, ever. Once, a long time ago, she could say they were friends, some of them, but now, she only saw enemies and people wanting her title.

That was the distraction of the match, and she would forever say that was why Brie Bella of all people beat her. If it were just her and Brie, she could take that Bella apart, but with all the distractions, and where the hell were her partners to break up the pin? It was a tag match, one of them could have come in and stomped on Brie to break it up, and this is what she was talking about, this is why she went to Stephanie in the first place. She had no friends, so tag matches were entire pointless. She heard the Bellas and their little Total Diva gang celebrate above her.

She would have complained, gotten up and in their faces, but she was being pulled out of the ring. She didn't know what was going on as she was thrown over someone's shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw it was Tamina carrying her. That was weird, she thought Tamina hated her, but maybe…maybe she didn't? Not that she wanted to be friends with anyone right now, but maybe Tamina could come in handy. Maybe she could be the muscle that was lacking since E had gone his own way.

Dolph had his own posse later, even though they were supposedly fighting for Daniel. More than anything, he wanted to get his hands on the freaking Shield. He had numbers this time, and it was so satisfying to know that unless a miracle happened, he was going to finally exact some revenge. He didn't give a damn about Daniel Bryan and his plight to become WWE champion, he didn't care about any of the other men on his side. This was his match to steal, and the Shield had a beating that was long, long overdue. Last week had been satisfying, but he wanted this week to be a massacre.

And it came, oh how it came, first Roman then Dean, until it was just Seth left. He managed to at least take out one person, but then it was still 4 on 1, and they circled the ring until all sides were occupied. Dolph still felt weird fighting alongside a man he loathed, but for now, in this moment, he didn't care. He wouldn't have cared if it was him, Daniel, Kane, and Cena as long as he was going to get his hand on the guys who made his life miserable. Dean and Roman tried to come back in, but they handled it, leaving Daniel standing in the ring alone.

Dolph watched him and he sucked at his teeth a little bit. It wouldn't last, this camaraderie, he knew that, so did everyone else. One day, that would be him, and there was no stopping him. One day, he would unseat Daniel and take great pleasure in it, but that time wasn't just yet, and it wasn't just now. But it would be soon.

"You have a text message from Stephanie," AJ said as soon as he walked into their locker room.

"What does it say?" he asked, wondering what Stephanie could possibly want with him. And damn her for having all the phone numbers in the company.

"Meet me Monday, tell nobody."


	8. The Braid, September 30, 2013

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and stuff. This is really kind of a filler chapter, written to be more of a companion piece to Monday's Hugs and Kisses chapter, so if you haven't read that, you probably should because you might be lost as to what is going on. Since Dolph and AJ didn't really do much on the show (in AJ's case, pretty much nothing on the show), I thought I'd keep focus tight. Anyways, hope you enjoy! Also, my new OTP is Dolph/Dolph's braid. :P

* * *

"Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, the concert was amazing, went to see George Wallace, I made a bet on football! Hung out, caught up, did a little gambling, won a little, lost too much, so yeah, I'm having fun," Dolph told her.

"I'm really glad," AJ said, "You needed a weekend to just relax and do whatever you wanted, especially after all the crap that's been coming at you, and all that Stephanie weird stuff we have on Monday."

"Yeah, trying not to think about what that may mean," Dolph said.

"Oops, sorry, so are Brad and Katie having fun too?" AJ changed the subject, hoping his mind wouldn't be on whatever meeting they had with Stephanie on Monday. She was tempted to call Stephanie and ask what was going on, but it was probably better to just show up. Part of her wasn't worried because she felt like she knew Stephanie now, but the other part didn't know this Stephanie at all.

"Yeah, it's great seeing them, especially since we live all over the place, you know what I mean," he said, "are you having fun in Tampa?"

"Yeah, my place was so dusty and gross, we should come here more often, it's very nice, and it's still sunny here, you overly tanned freak," she joked with him. "And it's nice seeing my sister again. I just wish you were here to meet her."

"Next time, babe, I promise," he told her, "so what did your brother tell her about me? Was it actually nice stuff or how I'm horrible for you?"

"He was nice about it, he actually told Erica that he might have been wrong about you all along, so that's something, right?" she told him, and she could practically hear him smiling on the other end. Dolph had invited her to go along to Vegas with him, but because he was going to catch up with old friends, she didn't want to impose or take the focus away from that, and she knew if she was there, he would spend the entire time making sure she was having fun, even at the expense of having fun himself.

So instead, she'd decided to remember she actually had an apartment in Tampa and stay in it for their time off, and her sister, who lived in Florida, but a little ways away, decided to come stay with her and catch up themselves. It'd been a long time since they'd just gotten to hang out since AJ was living in Phoenix now. She knew Erica was dying to talk to her face-to-face about Dolph and everything happening with them, especially after Robert came to visit.

"Hey, I'm making progress, maybe by the time we've been together a few years, I won't be despised!"

"Mmm, maybe she said, until they remember you're sleeping with me…"

"Oh yeah, _that_," he said, "and I'm really not willing to give that up…"

"So you'll be reviled for years to come," she said as the door opened and Erica walked in with their dinner. "Oops, my sister's here, so I better actually pay attention to her and not stay on the phone with you all night."

"But I just settled in for some phone sex, I got naked and everything!" he joked.

"Aww, I guess you'll just have to look at those photos on your phone," she told him.

"There aren't any naked photos of you on my phone."

"Oh, I know, I was just saying you can look at them," AJ said, "I love you."

"I love you too, I'll see you soon. Have fun with your sister, or more fun I guess, are you having fun?"

"Yes, I'm having fun."

"Wow, now I'm offended that you're having fun without me. You're supposed to say that you can't have fun when you're away from me, what kind of girlfriend are you?" Dolph told her, trying to sound disappointed.

"A real one as opposed to your hand if you didn't have me."

Dolph started laughing. He loved that this woman could come right back at him without a moment's hesitation. "Oh, babe, if you think I'd ever have to resort to that…"

"Okay, I'm really letting you go now because my sister is staring at me, so if I don't get off this phone, she's liable to grab it and chuck it out the window."

"Okay, well, I love you, and I'll see you, and tell Erica I said hello, make me sound good, I'm trying to earn points here."

"I will," she told him, "love you too." AJ hung up the phone and walked into her kitchen to grab a slice of the pizza. She opened the box and took out a slice, grabbing a plate in the cupboard over her head to put it on. She walked to the fridge to grab the bottle of ranch dressing that she _had_ to have with her pizza. When she turned around, she caught her sister just staring at her. "What?" AJ asked, pouring some of the dressing on her plate. When she looked up, her sister was still staring at her. "Okay, what is it?"

"Nothing," Erica said.

"No, you keep looking at me, why?"

"You're grinning like an idiot," Erica told her.

"Huh?"

"The entire time on the phone, grin, you hang up, grin, you get your pizza, grin, you get your dressing, grin, and I don't even think you realize how you've been grinning since you've been on the phone with him."

"I missed talking to him, he's been so busy," AJ shrugged, trying to make light of it even though she knew her sister was going to go somewhere with this. "I don't bring up how you are every time you talk to your girlfriend, so whatevs, Erica."

"Whatevs? You even talk like him now," Erica teased.

"I'm not listening to you anymore," AJ said, bringing her food into the living room. Her sister quickly followed with her own food and sat down next to her sister, turning so she was facing her.

"We've barely even talked about him since I've gotten here."

"Yes, we have," AJ protested. "You know we have."

"Yes, we have, we've talked about how he has a target on him or something and how Stephanie McMahon wants to talk to him, and how you're going to go with him because if they dare fire him, you're going to spill secrets or something. We haven't talked about _him_ or you."

"That's because there's nothing to discuss."

"He's the most serious relationship you've ever had, Chi Chi," Erica said, "I think we need to talk about that."

"If this is the birds and the bees talk, it's a little late for that," AJ told her.

"No, it's not that kind of talk, it's just…this guy is pretty much it, isn't he?" Erica said bluntly. "I wasn't sure when I came to visit you, I mean, I had a good idea from what I've seen of you two, what you've told me about you two, what Robert told me about you two, but I think I needed to see it for myself, just to see you for myself, and I would like to see him too."

"You can come visit us in Phoenix, or, I guess we can come visit you. We're usually busy, and we like to go to LA so he can do comedy at least once a month or every couple months, he's getting really good at it."

"So is he it?" Erica asked. "I want to know if I should be welcoming this guy into my family."

"I don't know," AJ shrugged it off as she took a big bite of her pizza.

"Yes, you do, you just don't want to say it to me, I don't know why, it's not like I hate him, and I don't hate him, April, I don't even know him. Robert has a predisposition to dislike anyone the both of us date, it's ingrained in him. The only difference is he would never punch anyone who broke my heart."

"Dolph isn't going to do that," AJ shrugged.

"Ahh, so he is going to be the last one," Erica said knowingly. "Well, that's fine then, I just want to meet him, make sure he is a good one. It's no doubt that he treats you well because I have eyes. Just want to make sure I like him."

"You will, he's nice. He doesn't come off as nice because he's not nice to everyone, but you're part of my family, so he'll be on his best behavior."

"I don't want him on his best behavior, I want him on his normal behavior. How am I supposed to get to know the guy if he's sucking up to me all the time? I want to know the real him, the him that you get to see."

"God, you are so nosy," AJ rolled her eyes, "he's a great guy who loves me, that's all you really need to know about him. He likes comedy, and he likes dirty jokes, and he likes the color pink and pop music, but also rock music, he likes hockey and football, and he's mildly interested in baseball. He hates comics and video games, but he pretends to like them because I do. He drives everywhere because he knows I'm not comfortable with it. He thinks I look cute in my silliest pajamas. He put up shelves just so I could put all my action figures on display in our living room. This is the kind of guy he is, there, you got the Cliff Notes version."

"Okay, okay," Erica said. "I still want to meet him though."

"Believe me, you will."

"Because he's in this for the long haul."

AJ just rolled her eyes.

She couldn't wait to see him. She couldn't believe she'd gone so many days without seeing her boyfriend. It did not suit her to not see him for so long. She was so attached now and she couldn't help herself. She waited by the door, watching as everyone walked inside. Luckily she missed Stephanie because she wasn't quite ready to see her yet. They had a meeting with her soon, but it could wait until later.

"Hey, AJ, you need back-up tonight?" Tamina said, walking over to AJ. Last week, before SmackDown, AJ had incited the help of the other diva, the most fearsome diva in the entire division. While AJ could cut someone down to size with her words, she was convinced Tamina could actually cut someone down to size.

"_Tamina, hey, I just wanted to thank you for carrying me out last night," AJ said, jogging to catch up to the much, much taller diva. "I really appreciate it."_

"_Don't mention it."_

"_Look, I know you're really just coming back and everything, and I don't know if you've really been paying attention to all the drama, but it's been getting pretty catty around here, and well, I could use someone like you around me."_

"_Someone bigger and stronger?" Tamina asked._

"_Well, yes, that," AJ said, "ever since Big E and I have decided to part ways, and since Dolph never did come out with me, I've been a little vulnerable, and I know you probably hate me too, and I know we've had bad blood between us in the past, but—"_

"_Yeah, sure, I'll do it," Tamina said, "as long as we both know that it's strictly business, and at the end, I expect a title shot."_

"_Okay, I can live with that," AJ said. She knew that of all the divas, Tamina might just be her toughest opponent, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She was sure Tamina was only doing this to get a title shot, and AJ was okay with that. Sometimes you had to give to get, and with all the Total Divas after her, she needed someone to actually be her backup. While Layla might be her friend, she was still a little flaky._

"Yeah, I might, I heard that Brie is going to get a shot at my title, I need to scope her out since she has a match tonight, I'll come find you later, I'm just waiting for Dolph," AJ said and Tamina nodded simply and left. AJ liked her because she just came for the business and didn't stick around for any awkward attempts at friendship. She needed more people like that in her life.

"Any reason you're sitting around looking like a lost child?"

"Yup, I lost my mommy somewhere, are you a police officer?" AJ asked her best friend.

"Only on the weekends, I go undercover at the local high school, freshman of course, I don't think I could pull off a senior," E told her and she giggled. "Seriously though, what are you doing here alone? Where's Dolph?"

"That's the question of the hour, he hasn't gotten here yet. He got on his plane, he texted me that so I don't have to worry that he's still in Vegas and overslept or something. Poor guy, he probably got plastered, and his alcohol tolerance has probably been shot since he's been with me and doesn't drink around me."

"Note to self, get him a flask for Christmas, it'll help him in more ways than one."

"Are you saying that he needs to drink to be around me, E? Because I don't think I like the implications," AJ told him, narrowing her eyes.

"Do you want a flask? You can fill it with chocolate milk or something."

"Does it keep hot chocolate hot because then I might consider it."

"I'll get them engraved his and hers," E told her and she nodded eagerly.

"Oh man, that just makes me think about what we are going to do for Christmas. It's our second Christmas together, and we have to start making plans. I figure since we get the time off, maybe we spend it in Puerto Rico with my family and—"

"I really think this is something you should be discussing with him, not me."

"Probably, so…what have you been doing?"

"Well, I've been talking to Maddox, and trying to find a place, you know, I have matches here and there, but well, we'll see."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot," AJ said. She looked over E's shoulder and saw Dolph just pulling his suitcase inside. "I'm sorry to cut this short, E, but Dolph just walked in and I haven't seen him in like five days and—"

"Yeah, yeah, you forget I was around you guys for 7 months, I know how this goes," E laughed, watching as AJ squealed and ran over to Dolph.

Dolph only just had enough time to look up before AJ's arms were around his neck, hugging him tightly. He even could hear her taking a deep breath, probably taking in his scent. He stood up straight, which made her have to stand on her toes to continue hugging him. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning down so he could bury his face in her neck. They held each other for a few seconds before she pulled away and held his face in her hands.

"Okay, you look like you're all in one piece, that's good," she told him, bringing her hands down to run over his chest. "No visible tattoos, no errant wedding ring, a little more stubble than you had before you left, but that's okay. I can work with this."

"Hello to you too," he told her, leaning down and giving her a kiss. She returned it in earnest, her hands coming up to cup his jaw as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. He pulled away first, but kept his forehead against hers. "So we have to go see Stephanie McMahon, soon, how do you think that's going to go?"

"I don't know, but if she even dares think about firing you, I'm going to kick her ass."

"And get yourself fired too?" he wondered.

"I don't care, it's you and me or nothing at all. I'll take the belt with me and then what's she going to do?"

"Go back to the Women's title?"

"I'll take that one too!"

"God, it's good to be around you again," he told her, "come on, let me drop off my stuff before we go meet with her." AJ slipped her hand into his and they walked to their locker room.

After he got himself situated, and changed into his trunks since he saw he had a 6-man tag match against The Shield. He was teaming with the Usos, whom he didn't know that well, but they seemed like okay guys. It was weird being on the good side of things. People liked him now, wanted to talk to him, and it was just strange to have people want to back him up. He wasn't sure he liked it, but it was what it was. He couldn't take on the Shield by himself, he knew the ending of that story all too well, so any back-up at this point was good back-up.

They made their way to Stephanie, and each took a deep breath before going in to talk to her. It turned out that it was nothing what they thought. Dolph wasn't in trouble, but she wanted their help. AJ took over most of the conversation because she knew Stephanie better than Dolph did, and he was impressed with the way his girlfriend went toe-to-toe with Stephanie. She'd always had this fearlessness, and he loved seeing her so confident with it now.

After their meeting, they needed a moment to ruminate over everything Stephanie just said. They went back to their locker room and both of them fell down onto the couch, sitting next to each other and staring straight ahead. Eventually, AJ got tired of the position and sat up on the top of the couch, her back against the wall behind it. Dolph moved so he was sitting in between her spread legs and he leaned his head against her right knee.

"So what do you think about what Stephanie said?" Dolph asked finally.

"I don't know."

"Do you trust her?"

"Yes, I mean, this is her thing, you know, plans. We were going to plan Vickie's downfall together when I was the GM. She wanted to take Vickie out, and well, yeah, I trust her. I just don't think she knows what she's doing."

"I don't see what benefit it would have for me though. Is she going to give me a title shot, probably not," Dolph shrugged. "I don't see how I'd get repaid for being her spy…if she even knows what she's doing."

"But having her as an ally can only help," AJ said, "look at Punk. He's friends with her, and if he wants to take off a Raw, he can. He gets all these little benefits, and maybe if you're in her good graces, you could get those too."

"Who says I want that? I want to earn what I get, not suck up to the boss to get it. That's Randy's job right now, and The Shield's, and Big Show's even. I mean, I'm not the type of guy who just gives in. The only thing they could threaten me with is you. If they wanted to fire me, they'd have done it already, I've done more things to get me into trouble than they can shake their stick at. My one weakness is you."

"You know she knows that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Dolph said, "I think everyone knows. I'm surprised they haven't had the Shield drag you out into the middle of the ring and threaten to marry you."

"Which one?" AJ asked eagerly, and Dolph tilted his head back to stare up at her face, "Sorry! I'm just saying, if I'm going to be kidnapped and forced into marriage, I'd like to know which one I'm going to have to marry."

"I don't know, Roman."

"Mmm…"

"Seth?"

"Okay, better, go on."

"There's nothing to go on to, if they hurt you, they hurt me, that's how it works, you know. Like, I can and have held my own, but you…but I guess you have Tamina now so I don't have to worry so much. I think she could single-handedly take out the entire diva's division, plus half the men's division if she wanted to."

"It's why I'm keeping her around, at least until the Total Divas realize that I'm the best around here."

"Sometimes I think I have too much influence on you." He could feel her fingers in his hair, and he asked, "What are you doing with my hair?"

"Braiding it," she said, "I'm just bored and thinking, don't mind me. This Stephanie thing could actually help though. I mean, if we spy for her, maybe it will lead to something better. At the very least, we won't be so scared about your job all the time."

"Yeah, but have you ever heard of one head of the snake not knowing what the other head is doing?"

"I don't think that's the saying, baby."

"Whatevs," he said, "I'm just saying, I don't think Stephanie knows half of what Hunter is doing. Remember that time he had the Shield beat up Christian to drag him out for Edge. You cannot tell me she knew about that, I mean, I saw her backstage, I heard about how she was mad about that. Hunter is doing his own thing."

"Still, she's the owner and President, even if Hunter did do something rash, she's on our side."

"But we're the secret posse, remember?" he pointed out, wincing as she pulled his hair tightly. If this was how she thought deeply about things, he needed to stay away from her because getting his hair braided hurt. "If Hunter does something to us, she won't go against him, not if she wants that power."

"Sure she could, I'm the best diva in this company, and you are so charming, charismatic, and talented, they would _never_ risk you going to TNA. Not in a million years would they do that. And you know why? Because you would carry that company. If you were over there, you'd make it great, they can't risk that."

"Hunter doesn't think it's a risk."

"So what? He's a jerk anyways. You can't listen to him."

"You really want to help Stephanie, don't you?"

"I can't help it, she's Stephanie, you know," AJ sighed, "Hair tie, please." Dolph held up his wrist and she grabbed one of the four hair ties he had on there. "Why do you have so many hair ties on? You always have like fifty of them."

"Says the girl who wears 500 bracelets." AJ scoffed and grabbed one of them off his wrist. Then she grabbed another one.

"Why are you taking two? Do you actually expect me to wear this braid in my hair on the show? Like is this an actual thing you want me to do?" he wondered.

"Yes, wear it, it's a special thing from me to you, and nobody will know, but I'll know and it'll be really cute, and it'll make you think of me while you're out for your match," she said, tying his hair back. "I was going to do the other side, but I think one side is enough, I don't want you to look like you just got back from the Caribbean with white boy braids. Sometimes I forget you're just a cute, white boy."

"Okay, so give me the hair tie you took that you don't need then," he said, holding his hand out. AJ put it on his ring finger and twisted it twice. "Now what are you doing?"

"We're hair married," she told him, "now this means that I'm the only one who ever gets to do your hair."

"So you're going to bleach it now too? Great, I'm going to get bleach in my eyes and I'm going to go blind."

"No, I just get to play with it, that's all," she said, snatching another one off his wrist, still leaving him with two. She put it around her own wrist. "And now I have a symbol for you that I can wear, and people can be like, 'aww, look at those two, they're wearing matching hair ties,' and we'll be hair tie buddies."

"That's what they'll call us," he said, and she giggled at the Friends reference. "Look, I'll wear the braid, but only because you're you, and whatever you want to do with Stephanie, you'll know I'll go along with it."

"No, it's not going to be up to me, it has to be up to the two of us," she said, "I'm not going to have you do something just because I told you to do it."

"Isn't that why I'm wearing this right now?" he pointed to his hair, "I don't even know what it looks like."

"It's cute, but your hair is getting too long, baby, maybe consider a haircut."

"So do I listen to you or do I not listen to you, I'm really unclear here."

"When it's you, listen to me, but when it's something as big as your career. Look, I'm just saying that Stephanie is offering us something that could turn out to be beneficial to us. We want to still be that power couple, right? This could lead to that, and she said she doesn't care who the face of the company is, maybe that means you can sneak in there and somehow you'll get the WWE title shots, we don't know, but maybe if we do this for her, she'll do stuff for us."

"I just don't think she knows what she's doing, she sounded like she didn't, and if Hunter finds out…"

"She ranks higher than him, she could snap him like a twig if she wanted."

"You're very compelling," he sighed, resting his head against her knee again.

"Baby, isn't anything better than just being thrown into a match at Battleground. I mean, you aren't even going for Sandow's briefcase, they just needed two people to face each other, and you're it. Think about it, maybe if Stephanie is on your side, you'll have a more prominent role than being on the pre-show."

He thought about what she was saying. He wasn't usually a guy who took freebies, but that might be because they were hardly ever handed out to him. Who was he to turn away an opportunity like this. It would still require him to probably get beat up every week because Stephanie couldn't show favoritism, but at least at the end, he might get something out of it. Regardless of what AJ said, he was still taking her feelings into account.

She adored Stephanie, and if they went back into the fold, AJ might forge that friendship she had with Stephanie last year when she was the GM. At the very beginning of their relationship, she would tell him how amazing Stephanie actually was, and how she looked up to her so much. Even through all the turmoil in her life at the time, even through the heartache, how horrible she felt about herself after the Daniel/Punk/Kane thing, having Stephanie there seemed to brighten her up. He didn't hate Stephanie, it wasn't about that, but he wasn't sure he trusted her, especially since it seemed she was completely on board with everything Hunter wanted to do. Yet, maybe that was all part of the plan too, this elusive plan that he still didn't know enough about to fully want to join.

But what did he have to lose?

"Can we take the weekend to think about it?"

"Of course," AJ told him.

"Okay, then we'll think about it. Do I really have to go out there with this braid in my hair?"

"No, but you will."

He was going to end up giving in to her, he knew it already. He knew he was going to give in on the Stephanie front too. By this time next week, he'd be her spy, he'd be her minion practically with no assurance that he'd get anything out of it. But if AJ got Stephanie's friendship back, if she could light up when talking about Stephanie like she did back then, it might just all be worth it.

_Might_ be.


	9. Concussed, October 7, 2013

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"I don't really want you to feel put out."

"Why would I feel put out?" AJ asked. "It's your house too, and now it's Briley's house, it's fine, we have the room, we never have anyone who stays, and it's _fine_. Besides, this means we can leave the kid behind and Briley can take care of him."

"That's a good point," he said, "I just didn't want you to feel like I didn't include you in this because I know I kind of agreed to it before talking with you, and it's just because I've been so used to being on my own and making decisions for myself, I kind of made a huge one without asking the person I'm currently living with."

"And I'm saying that it's fine. I mean, think about it, how many girls would love to be in my place, living with the two of you, I mean, I'm living the dream, baby," she said, giggling as if she made the funniest joke ever. "I'm fine about it. As long as he doesn't walk around naked, I think we'll be cool."

"I don't want him walking around naked either," Dolph shuddered. "And are you sure you don't mind me going out tonight?"

"No, I don't, it's your school's homecoming week, and all your old friends are around, isn't this a time you should be catching up?" AJ asked, reaching out her hand across the back of the couch where Dolph was resting his hand and lacing their fingers together. "I mean, you've only told me about 75 people that you wanted to see."

"You can come, you know."

"I know, but it's at a bar, and you know I hate those," she shook her head, "and you're all going to be cheering for a team I don't care about in the Indians, and I won't know anyone, and you'll all know each other, and you know how I am in large social situations…"

He laughed and squeezed her hand, "Okay, okay, you have about a million excuses, but I was just extending the invitation to you, and even though I wish you were coming so I could show you off, it's fine."

"Your mom is taking me out to dinner anyways, so it's not like I'm going to have nothing to do. I think she likes having me around because she's usually surrounded by boys."

"Well, considering she has three sons and a husband, and none of her sons are married and I'm the only one with a girlfriend, yeah, I'd say she likes having you around," Dolph nodded. AJ nodded as well before she scoot over and leaned against him. "You don't have to come tomorrow to the football game."

"I know, but you specifically came here for that, and you invited me, and it could be fun. I mean, you watch me play my video games and I know that's not fun for you, so I can return the favor. Besides, didn't you say we got a box?"

"Yeah, problem is it's with Miz."

"Oh yes, your burgeoning friendship with him now that you don't hate each other anymore," AJ said, wrapping her arms around him. "I guess once you stop acting like a complete tool, everyone loves you, maybe I should try that sometime."

"It only matters if I love you," he told her.

"Wow, so you just want to keep me away from the world, lock me up in that ivory tower, make sure nobody ever has any access to me?"

"Yup, that's exactly what I want to do, lessens the chance of you finding someone better," he told her and she laughed hard at that, burying her face into his t-shirt. "You laugh now, but someone better could come along, you could fall madly in love with some guy and leave me in the dust."

"You're the crazy one in this relationship," she mumbled against his shirt. "That's not going to happen."

"Sure it isn't, you don't even know how much of a catch you really are."

"Stop," she could feel her cheeks burning, and she buried her face further into her t-shirt. Dolph's cell phone buzzed, and he grabbed it from his pocket and looked at it.

"Oh, that's my friend, Dan, he's going to be here in like five," Dolph said.

AJ pulled away and sat back. "Have fun tonight, but please be safe, and if you guys don't have like a designated driver or something or if you've had too much, just call me, and I will come pick you up, alright?"

"I'm not planning on doing much drinking," he told her.

"Yes, but even so, just be safe, I don't need you getting hurt or worse," she told him, grabbing his face in her hands, "and just have fun with your friends, don't think about work, don't think about Damien on Sunday, just have fun, got it?"

"Okay, you have fun with my mom, make sure no strange guys try to pick her up."

"Oh, I will definitely make sure," she said, leaning forward and kissing Dolph. He pulled her by the waist into his lap and she swung her leg over his for a short, impromptu make out session.

"Get a room!" Don called out, walking by the living room and seeing his son and AJ making out. AJ laughed against Dolph's mouth and pressed her forehead against his as Dolph groaned and closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"AJ, are you ready…oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Kelly said, coming into the living room with her purse. "Although, if I was, I'd much rather you do it somewhere else and not on my brand new couch. I don't want to have to pay to get it cleaned."

"Oh my God, I've officially died and gone to hell," Dolph said.

AJ ran her hand through her hair, "Sorry, Kelly, your son is insatiable, he can't keep his hands off me."

"And now it's getting worse," Dolph leaned his head back against the couch, closing his eyes. AJ laughed and climbed off his lap.

She walked around the couch, leaning over and kissing his lips quickly while he was bent backwards, "I'll see you later, remember what I said, I'm just a phone call away."

He opened his baby blues and smiled up at her, "You have fun too, I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered to him, walking out the door with Kelly after grabbing her bag. "I'm starving, I know you're paying, but I will feel slightly bad running up the bill with the five courses I will probably consume tonight."

"Eat all you want, you'll work it off later," Kelly said, "I mean, you're defending your title by plowing through that entire division. And Brie on Sunday is not even going to be a challenge for you. Besides, you have Tamina there if Nikki tries anything funny."

"I think I can definitely take her, and yeah, having Tamina there is a huge plus, she's tough. I know she's going to want to face me at some point, but until then, I'll just have her there to have my back."

"And that Brie, I saw her on Total Divas, that whole thing about losing three pounds when she's already thin as a rail, I wanted to shake her and tell her she needed to eat instead, that's why I like you, you're not afraid to actually have a meal."

"I think I would literally kill someone if I was to go on a liquid diet," AJ laughed. "And that someone would probably be your son because he'd probably eat burritos the entire time and make fun of me."

"Sounds like him," Kelly said. "I'm glad he found you…I know it wasn't under the best circumstances, I know that you were upset and he was part of that, but I didn't raise my sons to treat women horribly, and I'm glad he recognized that."

"He's a good guy," AJ said as they climbed into the car. "He's the best guy actually."

Kim smiled, "I like hearing that, makes me think I didn't raise three losers."

AJ giggled, "Well, now that Briley is living with us, I can report the behavior of two of your sons."

"You really don't mind he's staying with you, I know you've told Dolph that you don't mind, but I know it can be a little weird."

"No, it's not at all, Briley and I were friends before this. We knew each other through some mutual people, and I like him, not as much as Dolph obviously, but if anything, I think I'm going to be breaking up some arguments."

"Probably so," Kim said. She smiled at AJ before pulling the car out, "I figured since I was getting you alone tonight, and I so rarely do since my son is always hanging off you that I could take the opportunity to tell you how happy you actually make him. I know he'd get embarrassed if I said this in front of him, but I needed you to know it, just in case anything ever happens or you ever doubt it, I've never seen him happier than he is with you. And it's a lot that he keeps bringing you around because I think the most I ever met one of his girlfriends was twice. And that's saying a lot."

"I love him," AJ shrugged. "He's…Dolph."

Kelly laughed, "I'll pretend like I know what that means. I just hope you stick around for a while."

"I hope so too."

AJ looked down at the gargantuan jersey that hung down to her knees. She put her arms down and the sleeves practically went down to her hands. She looked up at her boyfriend, "I cannot possibly wear this, it looks like a dress, and not even a pretty dress, and I look like a weirdo. Where did you even get this? Who wore this, the Great Khali?"

"I found it in Donny's closet, he's bulkier than I am," Dolph said. "You do look kind of cute in it though."

"How did _you_ get a custom jersey with Show-Off on it sent to you by the team where I get nothing? I could have had a really cute one."

"Oh, you mean like this," he said, going over to his dresser and pulling out a package. Her jaw dropped and she glared at him, folding her arms, which made her look silly with the size of the jersey she was wearing.

"You hid that from me! Why would you do that!"

"I just wanted to see you wearing that jersey," he said, leaning down to kiss her, but she pulled away at the last second. "I wanted to see you look cute! You can't blame me for that. You should take that, wear that to bed."

"Let me remind you this is your _brother's_ jersey," AJ told him.

"Yeah, you just took all the sex appeal out of that one," he scrunched his face up and handed her the package. "I think you'll like this one better, but that's just a hunch."

AJ grabbed the package, ripping open the paper surrounding it. Once unwrapped, she saw it was a brown Browns jersey like the one the team had given Dolph. She wasn't a fan of football, so it was fine for her to have a jersey of a random team that her boyfriend happened to like. She pulled it up and turned it around. She squealed when she saw the back said _Black Widow_ on it. She held it up against her and turned to her boyfriend, grinning like an idiot.

"This is amazing! I love it," she said, tossing the jersey on the bed and pulling off the huge one she was wearing. Dolph smirked at her, and she tilted her head, "Are you going to always give me that look when you see me without a top on?" He nodded eagerly. "You're such a boy." She grabbed her new jersey and pulled it on, twirling around in it. "How do I look now?"

"_Now_ you look hotter than I've ever seen you before," he told her, gathering her up in his arms. "Look at us, wearing matching football jerseys, we've become _that_ couple, babe, the one that everyone hates."

"Wasn't that us before?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, everyone's been jealous of us since the second they knew we were together."

The game was boring. She knew that Dolph was into it, and he did his best to explain everything to her, but there came a point where she just stopped caring, and he stopped trying to make her care. She sat with him in the seats provided in the front of the box and leaned her head on his shoulder as he watched the game. Sometimes she had to move away when his team did something good, and sometimes she had to watch him high five Miz, which was something she never thought she'd see.

Miz actually wasn't that bad. She didn't talk to him much, but when she did, he was nice, and he didn't call her crazy or make fun of her. She wondered if Dolph said something to him at some point telling him to be nice to her because it was really out of character for him. Whatever it was, it was actually nice to be around people who didn't think she was crazy. Some of Dolph's college friends were there too, and they regaled her with stories of his wild college days. She liked hearing about Dolph's past because it gave her future ammo.

"So he runs into class, and he's got bright pink shorts on and he tries to tell us that it was the only thing he had clean, but we knew he just liked dressing like it was the 80's," one of Dolph's friends, Tony, said.

"I think he still has those shorts!" AJ covered her face. "He has this ratty old pair of pink shorts that he wears around the house, and I swear, they look so stupid on him."

"He loved those shorts, don't let him try and tell you that they were just what he had laying around, he loved those shorts."

"What are you talking about?" Dolph came up behind AJ and wrapped his arm around her chest.

"Your pink shorts."

"What? No, come on, man!" Dolph groaned and hung his head down.

"Baby, are those the same shorts you wear around the house? The ones with the black piping on them?"

"Those are so the shorts!" Tony laughed.

"Okay, yes, they are the shorts," he told her, and she started giggling. "I'm getting her away from you, stop telling my girlfriend stories about me, God. Come on, babe, let's go where there aren't people who used to know me."

"AJ, remind me to tell you later about the time he woke up in front of the Art building."

"Oh, definitely," AJ said as Dolph pulled her towards the table filled with food. She grabbed a plate and a couple small sandwiches. "Your friends are nice and filled with embarrassing information about you."

"You having more fun in here then?"

"Yeah, the game is kind of boring, sorry, babe, but I like being like this with you and with people you know and are friends with," she said, taking a bite of her sandwich then offering it to him. He took a bite of it as she swallowed. "It's nice just being a normal couple, you know, who do normal couple things like going to football games."

"As opposed to abnormal type things like…"

"Getting beat up by people or people wanting us to be spies," AJ said. "I know we haven't totally discussed the Stephanie thing, but—"

"She can wait," Dolph said, "she put you in a Fatal Four-Way and did nothing to stop her ex-husband from putting me in matches against The Shield and the Wyatts, so she can stew around for a while."

"Okay…okay."

"And we'll just be a normal couple."

They got to be a normal couple for a few more days then it was back to work. Even though Dolph was upset he was put on the PPV pre-show, he still intended to put on a match that everyone would remember. He kind of wished that it was at least for the briefcase so the match had some sort of meaning, but nope, it was just a match. He was tired of that though, he wanted back into the title picture, and he hoped he'd get the opportunity soon. Hell, maybe with the WWE title finally on the line again tonight, he could go against whomever won that one.

"You ready to go out there and rock the show," AJ said then gave a funny look, "I really don't even know where that came from, and I sincerely apologize for that. Wow, that was just terrible."

He laughed, knowing she was trying to ease his nerves before his match. He always got too amped up before matches, too much adrenaline. He jumped around a lot just to try and ease some of it. AJ watched him from the couch because she knew his drill. She had her own match to prepare for, but she had time between his match and hers that she could get ready afterwards. She ended up walking with him to the gorilla so she could watch from back there, and she gave him a kiss for luck.

"One win, one win can start a streak," AJ told him, and he nodded, no words needed to be said after that, and he walked through the curtain.

He hated his spot on the show more than ever because it felt like the crowd wasn't even really ready for the show, but whatever, he couldn't think about that when Damien Sandow awaited him. Sandow was not a pushover, and he was a really good wrestler, so Dolph couldn't just overlook him. This would be a fierce match no matter where it took place. He did his Ziggle Wiggle and headed down to the ring to start this night off right.

He was going to win, AJ was going to win, and they were going to celebrate.

He got into the ring and he and Damien locked up. There was a lot of back and forth to start, neither one really getting any kind of upper-hand. They'd never faced each other, so they had to feel each other out. Dolph had seen many of his matches, but seeing and doing were two different thing. Damien took control, hitting Dolph in the back, and Dolph writhed around on the mat. Dolph was able to get a pin, but Damien worked his way out of it.

It was more back and forth, but finally, after targeting Damien's seemingly injured knee, Dolph was able to get the Zig Zag and the win. It felt good to win the match, and he was happy for it. It would set the tone for AJ later. He went backstage, and like he figured, she was right there to congratulate him. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. She wasn't in her ring gear so she must have stayed back there to watch his match.

"I'm so proud of you," she told him. "I knew you could do it, and Damien is really good, so that's like even better, you beat a really good wrestler by being the better wrestler."

"Thanks, babe, now it's your turn."

AJ went out confidently for her match, Tamina behind her. The Bellas were staring at her from the ring, those mean girl looks of theirs on their face. AJ stopped in front of the ring, kissing her title before she climbed inside, handing over the title to the referee. The match started and AJ yelled some trash talk to Brie, who slapped her in the face, surprising her. AJ shook it off, but Brie grabbed her and laid some punches on her.

Brie got the better of her, but AJ took a tactic out of her boyfriend's book and ran out of the ring to regroup. Brie tried to come after her, but Tamina did her job and stood in front of Brie, not allowing her near AJ. It was a departure from Big E, who didn't really do that for her now that she thought about it. AJ ran back into the ring, Brie following suit, but it allowed AJ to grab the Bella twin, but Brie flipped her over for a pin attempt. AJ easily kicked out of it. Brie picked AJ up and slammed her into the turnbuckle, throwing AJ's head back.

She was picked up again and slammed into another turnbuckle and her head whipped back, hitting the ringpost and Brie followed that up by slamming AJ's face into the turnbuckle. AJ blinked a couple times, feeling the effects of the moves, but she shook them off as best she could, trying to focus on the match at hand. She was not going to lose her title to a Bella. She would not suffer that fate. AJ grabbed the back of her head, which was sore, but was rewarded with a dropkick.

Brie attempted another pin, but AJ kicked out. AJ was eventually able to throw Brie into the ringpost, making her fall outside the ring. She grabbed the back of her head again, she must have hit it harder than she thought. AJ climbed out of the ring, yelling that she'd make sure Brie was okay, throwing Brie back into the ring. AJ tried a pin, but barely got a count before Brie kicked out.

AJ took the upper-hand, working on Brie's arm, transitioning into a bridge hold, which she knew her boyfriend would appreciate. She looked better doing this than he had in his misguided attempt at the Black Widow at the last PPV. There was a bit of a back and forth, but once again AJ had the upper-hand, but wasn't able to get the pin. She got a little cocky though, and after skipping around the ring was met with a dropkick from Brie. Brie tried for a sloppy pin, but AJ wasn't about to go out like that.

Brie took the offensive now, but still wasn't able to get the pin. Tamina grabbed Nikki, and started choking her out. AJ didn't know she was going to do that, but _that's_ what back-up should do for you, that's what a heavy was for. She quickly rolled up Brie and got the pin. AJ grabbed her title as Tamina escorted her up the ramp. She staggered backstage, and Dolph was right there, already showered and dressed, and enveloped her in a hug.

"You won!" he said.

"Yeah, I won, I did it, we both did it," she said, hugging him back. "That was pretty brutal though, Brie did better than I thought she would."

"And you still came out on top, thanks, Tamina," Dolph said to the other woman. "You were brilliant."

"I know how to win," Tamina said, walking away without another word. She was so strange, Dolph thought, she just came and went, and she didn't really bother to do anything otherwise. Well, maybe that was what you needed out of a heavy.

"You would have had that match regardless of Tamina though," Dolph whispered into her ear. "I love when you use my moves, it's so sexy, and when you show off, even sexier."

"I'm going go to shower and…stuff," AJ said, smiling up at him. Dolph was about to ask her a question when she leaned up to kiss him. "Can we go home? I want to go home."

"Hey, you okay?" Dolph asked, holding onto her shoulders. He studied her face. She looked tired and worn out, and a little bit pale. But there was just something that seemed a little off with her.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, just tired," she said, giving him a crooked smile, "I'm going to shower now and…stuff."

"AJ, are you sure you're okay? I would feel better if you went to the trainer's room," Dolph told her.

"Ziggy, I'm fine," she said, squinting at him. "I just need a shower, and I'm tired from my match, that's all, okay, man, I just…I'm tired."

Dolph was still concerned, but he knew she would be inclined to fight with him if he didn't give into her right now. "Okay, go take a shower. I'm going to stay here and watch the Rhodes match, is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," she said, walking off, adjusting the title on her shoulder. Dolph frowned as he watched her walk away. She wasn't herself, and he could tell. He was going to get her checked out as soon as she was out of the shower. He turned towards the monitor, but was distracted the entire time watching the match between The Shield and the Rhodes family. He noticed a lot of guys come into the area to watch the match as well.

This was relevant for everyone because this was a group of guys going against the dictatorship that was happening right now. It was important to see the outcome. Dolph thought that maybe AJ would turn up during the match, but she didn't show. After the Rhodes won, everyone was going out there to celebrate with them, so he followed suit even though he felt a little out of place. He and Cody had struck up an odd kind of friendship since the night of Payback when he gave him a ride to the hotel after his fight with AJ, but it wasn't anything worth noting.

When he went backstage again, he headed straight for his locker room. He found AJ sitting on the couch. She was showered and dressed but just sitting there, staring straight ahead. Dolph cleared his throat and she slowly looked over to him. "Oh, hey, I was waiting for you."

"By staring into space?" he asked unconvincingly.

"I didn't have anything better to do," AJ said, "I was just going over the match in my mind."

"Okay, hey, um, why don't we get you checked out," he said, going over to her slowly, like she was a wild animal and he was trying to capture her.

"Why? I'm fine, nothing broken. My elbow is fine, still sore, but it's getting better," she rubbed her shoulder slowly, that same glazed look coming over her face. "I'm fine, Ziggy, I'm fine."

"Babe, Jeannie, I just want you to get checked out," he told her, lowering his head so he could make eye contact with her. "That's all. I was watching your match, and you kept grabbing the back of your head, did you hit it?"

"I…I don't remember hitting it, no," AJ said, "I probably just got whiplash or something."

"Okay, well, I'd still feel better if you were checked out."

"I'm _fine_," she told him, "I'm here, right, like, I'm right here." She stood up and walked over to him, but tripped a little bit, shaking her head. That was enough for Dolph. He scooped her up into his arms and started carrying her towards the door. "Dolph, what are you doing?"

"We're going to the trainer's right now, don't argue with me," he told her. "So just don't, okay?"

"But—"

"Don't," he told her again, his voice firm and strong. She shut her mouth and let him carry her down the hallway, everyone looking at them strangely, but Dolph had one singular purpose. He pushed open the door to the trainer's and set AJ down on the table in there. "She needs to be checked out, and she needs to be checked out now."

"What's going on?" the trainer asked.

"She's been weird since her match, and she's kind of off balance," he said. He knew that feeling, he'd experienced that feeling. "I want her checked."

"I'm fine, he's overreacting," AJ said. "He's just a big baby."

"No, I'm not, I'm your boyfriend who loves you and wants you to get checked out," Dolph said, standing back as the trainer asked AJ some questions while looking into her eyes. Dolph folded his arms as he watched.

"Well, it could be a very mild concussion, at least right now it's nowhere near as bad as yours was. AJ, do you have a headache?"

"A little, but I was just in a match."

"Okay, well, I want you to take tonight to rest, and I want to check you out tomorrow."

"Just like that?" Dolph said.

"Yes, keep an eye on her, if her symptoms worsen take her to the ER."

"Gee, thanks," Dolph said, picking AJ up again. She swatted at him until he let her down. He grabbed her hand and led her out of the room. "We're going back to the hotel now, I'm not staying for the rest of the show, I don't care what happens."

"You're overreacting, there's nothing wrong, I'm fine."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, and I keep not believing it."

They went back to the hotel, and Dolph spent most of the night watching AJ. She slept, but it seemed fitful, and eventually, he himself succumbed to sleep, but not before pulling AJ against him. When he woke up after a few hours of sleep, she was still in his arms and he held her tighter before he fell back asleep.

The second time he woke up, she was up and coming out of the bathroom. Coming out was probably too nice a word for it. She staggered out, falling onto the bed and lying face down. Dolph crawled over and turned her over. Her eyes were still closed, but he could tell immediately that something was wrong. She was clammy, and he ran his hand down her cheek.

"You were throwing up right then, weren't you?" She nodded silently. "AJ, tell me about your match last night?"

"I won," she said simply, her hair fanning her face, and damn, even right now she was so staggeringly beautiful that it nearly distracted him from the task at hand.

"No, I want to know details. What move of mine did you do during your match?"

"I did one of your moves?" she asked, her face turning into one of concentration. "I remember…going out there, and I remember pinning her, I rolled her up, there was something distracting her."

"What else do you remember?"

"Um…I walked around the ring…maybe I ran, I hit…Nikki, did I hit Nikki, did Tamina hit Nikki. Can you make the room stop spinning, baby? It's just spinning so much, and I just…I just want to sleep and…did you win last night?"

"Okay, we're going in early," Dolph said, "you have a concussion."

"What? No, I remember yesterday, I didn't forget like you."

"Thank God for that, idiot trainer saying you didn't have a concussion immediately, _just observe her_ my ass," he said, getting out of bed. He pulled some clothes from his suitcase and got dressed. AJ tried to stand up to get dressed too, but she swayed a little and nearly fell to the floor if Dolph didn't have quick reflexes and get over to her.

"The room hurts," AJ told him pathetically. "Dolph, the room hurts."

Dolph now realized, in full effect, why AJ cost him the match against Del Rio. In that moment, her thought process became so incredibly clear to him. He got it. He got all of it. He got why she would so blatantly interfere, he understood why she would be trying to protect him because the tables had suddenly turned, and he was sitting here, looking at his girlfriend, who couldn't' remember her match, and who was begging him to make the room stop spinning.

The same bolt of fear that must have coursed through her in that one moment where Del Rio was going to hit him in the head with his knee brace was coursing through him now. His girlfriend was injured, her head was hurting her, and he sat there for five weeks wondering if he would ever get to wrestle again, and he didn't want that for his girlfriend.

"I know, babe, I know," he hugged her to him, kissing the crown of her head. "It'll be okay."

"My head hurts, I didn't want to say it, but it hurts, like it just…hurts."

"I know," he said again. "I'm going to help you get dressed, and we're going to head down to work early. I know the trainers and the doctors are there early because they have their meetings and stuff, so we're going to get down there."

"Okay, if you say so," she said, and he helped her sit down on the bed. He got dressed quickly before grabbing some clothes for her. She was in bad shape, he could tell, and the symptoms must have worsened overnight. He cursed himself for falling asleep. He should have just taken her to the hospital. He helped her put her clothes on, even pulling on her socks and shoes for her before he headed down to the arena.

Thankfully, the doctors were there, and Dolph took her straight there. After doing a few more tests, and actually doing a thorough examination, they lowered the boom. She had a concussion and she was being sent home. Dolph cursed everything in the world because this was not supposed to happen. His girlfriend was not supposed to have a concussion.

"How bad is it?" Dolph asked.

"Not as bad as yours, you lost two days, she's having troubles with her memory, but not to the same extent. We still want her to take it easy, unfortunately, you know the drill and so does she because you just got over yours. Are you going on the international tour?"

"Shit," Dolph muttered. He cursed this damn company. He couldn't go home with her. He would have to fly halfway across the world when all he wanted to do was take care of his girlfriend. Life could not be more unfair than it was right now.

"I wouldn't recommend she fly home by herself."

Dolph blew out his breath. He could ask E to take her, but he didn't really want to put him out like that. Then he realized his mom was only a couple hours away, and she wouldn't hesitate to help out, and it would give her the opportunity to see his brother, so it seemed perfect. He told the trainer he had a person to take her home, and he helped his girlfriend down the hallway.

"I have a concussion," AJ told him like he didn't know. He sat down on the couch in his locker room, and she laid her head in his lap. He stroked her hair, knowing that her head was probably pounding right now.

"We're going to get you home. I still have Abu Dhabi, but I'm going to call my mom and ask her to escort you home."

"I like your mom. She wants me to marry you, you know."

"I know," he told her. "She tells me that too."

"I would, you know," she told him. "If you asked me right now, I would."

"I love you for that, but it's not happening," he said as he pulled out his phone and dialed his mom.

"What did you need, son of mine?" his mom asked.

"I need a huge favor, Mom," he told her.

"Okay," his mother turned serious. "Is everything okay? I was just watching Battleground last night, and you and AJ both won, so I'm not sure why I'm getting this bad feeling that you need a huge favor. Did you and AJ have a fight?"

"No, AJ got a concussion during her match last night. She's in bad shape right now, not as bad as I was, but she's being sent home. I can't go, obviously, because I have Raw tonight, I'm booked on it, and I have the international tour. I just need someone to fly home with her. Briley's there, so he can take care of her—"

"I'm on my way, you're in Pittsburgh, right?"

"Thank you so much, Mom."

"This isn't even a situation where I should be thanked. I'll pack a bag, if you can book the tickets, we'll be good to go."

"Okay, I just don't want her to be alone, and there's no way that I can stay when I've been advertised, and it's the worst possible timing for me to go away—"

"Stop, it's not your fault," Kelly said. "I'll tell your father I have to go, and I'm practically in the car now."

"Thanks, Mom."

"I'll see you soon."

Dolph noticed that AJ was sleeping, and so he gently moved away from her. He wanted to go ask Stephanie if she could switch his match. He knew his mom could drive them to the airport, but he wanted to make sure he spent as much time with AJ before she left. He didn't want to go overseas, but he had no choice, so he had to leave her care to someone else. He knew she did the same for him when she had to go back to work, but there were at least a few days where it was just her taking care of him, and he hated that he couldn't return the favor.

He hated that his girlfriend was hurting, and he had to leave. When he came back after seeing Stephanie, he felt better about the entire thing. He could have his match then make sure she and his mom got away alright. About an hour before the show, his mom and his dad showed up. He was surprised to see his dad until they explained that she drove his mother there so she wouldn't have to park her car at the airport, which made sense.

"Where is she?" Kelly asked.

"Locker room," Dolph said. "She's been resting. We brought all our stuff here, so I can drive you to the airport right after my match. I got you on the last flight of the night, got lucky with that one. It departs at 10:10, it'll be cutting a little close, but you should be okay, my match is first after the opening segment, so we can leave right after."

"Okay," Kelly said as Dolph pushed open the door to his locker room. AJ was resting on the couch, curled up into a little ball. Dolph walked over to her and ran his hand over her hair, kissing her forehead.

"Hey, babe, my mom's here," Dolph told her, and Kelly was struck by the tenderness and fear in her son's eyes. AJ fluttered her eyes open and looked at him. "Hey, I know you're probably feeling horrible right now, and I get it, babe, I do, but you're going to go home with my mom, and she and Briley are going to take mediocre care of you since neither one is me, and I will be calling you every five minutes."

"I love you," she said hazily.

"I love you too, now, I have a match, but as soon as that's over, I'll come back here for you."

"Win," she told him.

"I will, just for you."

And he did. He went out there for his match, put on his bravest face, and he won for his girl. Under any other circumstances, she would be waiting backstage with a hug and encouraging words about how this was two, how you could build off two. Two was a streak. He was glad for the win, and usually, he'd feel ecstatic after his recent losing streak, but all he wanted was to get back to her. When he got back to his locker room, he saw AJ still lying down, but she was awake and resting her head in his mother's lap.

"Did you win?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, I did, like I said I would," he told her. She smiled at him, and he wished he could take everything she was feeling away. He knew that feeling so well, he knew the fog that settled over his brain, the ineffectualness of every part of him. He knew the dizziness, the headaches, the memory loss, the balance issues because he'd lived them, and she had to watch that, and he was just so overcome with sadness that she had to live what he went through.

Still, she smiled.

"Two is a winning streak, baby, two is a streak."


	10. Getting Back, October 14, 2013

A/N: No Dolph on Raw, what a travesty! Anyways, there's plenty of him here, enjoy! :P

* * *

"Remember when you used to be my friend only."

"Yes, I do, what about it?"

"How much would it have taken for you to sleep with me?"

"Bleached blond hair, impossibly cocky attitude, former World Heavyweight Champion maybe, other than that, you two are pretty much the same," AJ said, looking up at Briley, who was nodding his head slowly. "If only you'd come onto me sooner."

"And yet, your head is in _my_ lap and not his," Briley said, looking down at her. Her head was resting against his right leg and she was otherwise sprawled out on her couch in her living room. "I'd say that's a pretty good deal."

"Well, he's kind of not here, but we won't speak of this, we'll keep it our little secret," she told him, moving her head a little and wincing.

"Your head still hurts."

"Not that bad though," she told him, and it wasn't. She still had a sort of dull ache, but it wasn't as bad as it had been the night after she got her concussion. That morning, it was such a fog. She could barely remember any of it, just falling into Dolph's arms, him putting her clothes on, and getting checked out. After that, she didn't have much clue what was going on. She was on a plane with Dolph's mom then she was home in her bed.

The next day was a little better though. She woke up and things weren't as foggy. Briley and Kelly were here, and they were taking care of her, and even after Briley insisted that he could take care of AJ just fine, Kelly refused to leave her, citing the fact that she was a mother, and she knew what a mother should do in these situations. AJ, although she hadn't said so directly, felt so welcomed and included. This was how she'd been with Dolph, and to know that she excited the same reaction as her own son was something special for her.

"But still bad enough that you just winced."

"It's not like Dolph's," AJ told him. "I know how he was, how he was the entire first week, and it's nothing like that. I'm not like he was, that's how I know I'll probably get cleared a lot sooner than he will."

"You know, it's probably good that he's not here because you know he'd be smothering you right now, right? Like, my brother would probably not even let you out of his sight. You'd be broken up by Monday."

"I doubt that," AJ said, "I mean, I would obviously kick him out of the house, but I don't think we'd break up."

"And why is that?" Briley smirked knowingly. She reached up and punched him in the shoulder. "Oh, shut up, you know you're completely in love with my brother. I'm already shopping around for a used tux, you don't mind bright yellow, do you?"

"No, I don't," AJ said, "if, _if_ I marry your brother—"

"You act like this isn't a fact at this point."

"You never know," AJ said reasonably. "Relationships can be fickle, I think I know that more than anyone. Tomorrow, it could all be gone, that's all. I'm being realistic because I don't want to set myself up for ultimate disappointment. And if Dolph and I broke up…well, I don't know how I'd cope with that."

"You're tough though," Briley said, grabbing her hand and holding it in his, "you'd get through it, but there's nothing to get through because my brother is so in love with you. I mean, he thinks about you more than himself, do you get how big that is? I mean, that's like giant squid big."

"You and you're weird obsession with the sea," AJ teased him. "It's funny, you know, when he had his concussion, he didn't know what happened, and he was worried he said something stupid to me, and now that I had one, I keep wracking my brain trying to think if I said anything dumb to him."

"He just said you were out of it," Briley responded, "when he told me the entire story because apparently, I needed to know everything in order to help take care of you. He just said you were out of it and you kept talking about how your head hurt and how the room was spinning."

"Oh, well, good, I guess," she said. "I hate that this happened."

"Generally, people don't like getting concussions."

"I mean I hate putting the unnecessary worry on him while he's overseas."

"It's not like you did this on purpose. I mean, Brie slammed you pretty hard, not that I'm blaming her, but I'm kind of blaming her," Briley said. "I think I've earned that right as your friend, and as the guy who's bumming off you."

"I said it was fine that you lived here."

"Yeah, but I still feel like a bum. I mean, you pay for expenses, right?"

"Yes, I do, and Dolph pays for part of my rent at my place, we thought it only fair that we share them, at least, I did, if not for me, he would pay for everything, he might even pay for my apartment, but I put my foot down."

"And they say chivalry is dead. I'm going to make my brother take at least some form of rent while I'm here," Briley said. AJ opened her mouth to protest, "No, don't even pull that, AJ Lee, I'm not going to take no for an answer from you either. I'm not destitute, and I do have projects in the works."

"I know, but—"

"No, if I'm here, I'm pulling my weight."

"I'm home!" Kelly said.

"I better go help her with the bags," Briley said, pulling away from AJ. She made a move to get up and he shook his head. "Let us take care of it, you rest."

"I'm not an invalid," AJ told him, frowning in his direction.

"I know, but you're still recovering, and I'd rather you not put any strain on yourself. My mom and I got this, don't worry, just relax, call my brother, it's…I don't know, but he's probably up, probably waiting for a call from you."

"Don't try and persuade me with your brother."

"Did it work though?"

AJ groaned and Briley held his arms up in victory as he headed for the kitchen. AJ knew that Abu Dhabi was 11 hours ahead, and it was 2pm here, so that mean it was 1am there. She knew that Dolph was usually up this late, but since it was an international tour, he might be tired. She decided to press her luck and text him. That way if he was awake, he would get the text, answer her, fine, but if he was asleep, it wouldn't be as intrusive as a phone call. She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and went to her messages.

_You awake?_ She sent the text, and put her phone back on the coffee table. It was only a few moments before it dinged.

_Yeah, what's up? You okay? Are you feeling better?_

She decided it was alright to call so she dialed his number, "Hey, what's going on?" he answered immediately.

"Nothing, just missed you, and your mother and brother won't let me do anything but sit around, and they're in the kitchen putting groceries away while I'm sitting here on the couch like a loser."

"Good, that's what they should be doing."

"Not you too," she told him. "Your mother and brother are both like all over me—" She could hear him snickering on the other end of the phone. "Dolph, stop, you are such a little boy sometimes. They're acting like I can't do anything. I'm sitting around here like a bump on a log."

"Now you know how I felt for five weeks," he told her, "not that I wished you to feel that way, but, babe, you should be resting, okay, and I know your concussion wasn't as bad and you didn't suffer any amnesia, but any concussion is a bad concussion, alright?"

"I know," AJ said, "and I am taking it easy, it's just if I take it an easier, you're going to come home, and I'll be grafted to the couch."

"I'll still love you if you're stuck to the couch," he told her, "just indulge me, alright. I just want to know you're safe and okay, you didn't see you on Monday."

"You didn't see you either."

"That's not even an argument because you smothered me."

"Stop being the worst," she whined. "Besides, because it seems to be mild, they want me to fly to Raw on Monday to take the impact tests."

"Oh, well, good, that means I get to see you, and I don't have to suffer through more days without you," he told her, and she scrunched up her nose at the sentiment. "Hmm, no immediate answer, was that so romantic you had to go into the bedroom, I'm up for that if you are."

"I am _not_ doing that while your mother is in this house," she hissed.

"Aww, you haven't even taken care of yourself? Wow, that must suck," he teased her. "Wait, so does this mean that while Briley is living with us, you _really_ won't do it with me? If our sex life is going to be affected by my brother living with us, I'm going to kick him out as soon as I get home."

"No, no, no, nothing of the sort, why do you think we gave him the room all the way down the hall from us," she told him, and she smiled when she heard him chuckle. "He's settling in nicely, he's going to pay us rent, I told him it wasn't necessary, but he's your brother, and we both know how you are."

"Yes, and that's fine, I wouldn't stop him if he wanted to do that," Dolph said.

"So how's the tour going? Have you met anyone to replace me?"

"No, nobody here meets my standards. You really think there'd be lots of 5'2 Puerto Rican women with Chuck collections and obsessions with comic books around the world, but there really aren't. It's kind of troubling."

"I'm unique, what can I say?"

"I did help with a fundraiser, that was cool, and me and Miz did a signing—"

"You and Miz? What are you guys, best friends now?"

"He's not bad…oh my God, did I really just say that, gross, I need to get home, all this forced time with people is making me think horrible thoughts," he told her. "I just want to see you. I want to make sure you're okay with my own two eyes. The updates I get aren't enough."

"Updates…Dolph Ziggler, what are you talking about?" she asked, tilting her head. She'd heard nothing about updates, but she could only imagine what he meant.

"Nothing."

"Yeah, right, sure, what updates, who's updating you? Who's the traitor? Briley? Your mom? Nacho?"

"Yup, it's Huevos. He's a good dog, what can I say? He texts me updates every hour on the hour. He's spying on your right now, I told him to take good care of you, I'd hate to think he doesn't listen to his father."

"He's taking very good care of me, so how often are these updates?" she asked.

"Not long, I mean, like, every couple to few hours," Dolph answered her. "So it's not like it's every five minutes, I just get updates because I want to know how you're doing, is that a crime now? Should I not want to know how you're doing when I'm not there? I mean, come on, babe, don't you want me to be interested in your health?"

"Of course, I just don't want you to worry too much," she said, "you should be focusing on your matches and stuff. That's what you need to focus on right now, not my head."

"You act like that's really so simple, and what the hell am I even doing anymore? I'm trying to get back into the main event picture, but I can't, I'm failing at that, so whatevs, if I want to focus on you, I'll do as I damn well please."

"Don't get angry," she said gently. "You're on a winning streak, aren't you? We can build on that, you're going to build on that. I know you will. You're doing so well, baby, and you will get the World Title back or go for something even better in the WWE Title. I know you hate patience, I know you want everything now—"

"Don't at like you aren't the same, Jeannie," Dolph interjected. "You're the one who is probably forcing yourself to get better so you don't miss any time."

"I don't want to be stripped of the title."

"I wouldn't let them. You made sure they didn't strip me, I would make sure they didn't strip you, at any costs. Only _I_ get to strip you," he told her, and he could almost hear her rolling her eyes over the phone.

AJ heard him yawn. "You're tired, I'll let you get to bed."

"Nah, I've got a girl here, she wants me, so bed isn't my immediate concern right now."

"Oh, well, tell her to handle you with care, don't get too athletic, got it?" she said.

"Please just take it easy for the next few days. If the doctors clear you on Monday then by all means, go out and kick Brie's ass or something, but until then, just let my brother and my mom do whatever they can for you."

"I hate being dependent on people like that. I mean, just…last year I felt like I was _too_ dependent, and I promised myself I wouldn't fee like that again. I wouldn't put everything into anyone else's hands. I obviously broke that for you, but—"

"This is family," Dolph told her, "_my_ family, and they love you, and care about you, just…you're not dependent, this is what family does, and you know it. I'm sure your sister and your mom were chomping at the bit to come take care of you, right?"

"Seriously, your mom told you about that?"

"And you had to spend half an hour talking them out of coming because the entire house would be full?"

"God, how thorough are these updates?"

"Very, I have to make sure that you're okay."

"I will be _fine_," she said, "now I know how you felt when you kept telling me you were fine. I guess since this is all role reversal from when you had your concussion, was I this annoying?"

"Yes, but I still loved you."

"I guess I can still love you," she said, "I'll see you on Monday?"

"We'll talk before then, babe, I'm sure of it, I wouldn't let you go that long without talking to me," he said as he yawned loudly.

"Okay, I'm really letting you go now, I love you."

"I love you too, stay healthy and with all your memories."

"I'll try," she said, hanging up the phone. She sat there for a few more moments before she headed into the kitchen to hear Briley and his mother arguing about where to put things. AJ laughed softly as she took a front row seat.

"Oh, you're down here, do you maybe want a nap?" Kelly asked.

"No, I'm fine right here," AJ said, leaning her chin on her hand. "We usually keep cereal in that cupboard right there." AJ pointed to a lower cupboard near the fridge. "I'm small so I can't really reach stuff on the top shelves so cereal is on the bottom."

"Thanks," Kelly said, "I got his favorite, and I barely got a thank you."

"I said thanks, Mom," Briley said, scowling at her as he unpacked more groceries. Kelly let him as she came around the counter and swung AJ's chair so it was facing her. Kelly took AJ's face in her hands and studied her.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, much, the headache is pretty much nonexistent, and I'm not getting any dizzy spells," AJ said, feeling like she was talking to her own mother and trying to convince her to let her go to a party or something. "I really think I'm going to get cleared, but thank you so much for staying here and taking care of me. You really didn't have to do that, and I know it was a huge favor for Dolph to ask of you, and I know you have your own life in Cleveland, and I just wanted to thank you so much for being there at a moment's notice."

"Hey, you're family," Kelly said simply, patting AJ's cheek a little before she walked back into the kitchen to put the final items away. And that was that. There weren't any more words, no speech about how she was considered like a daughter to her, she was just family, and that was it, end of discussion.

AJ smiled.

By the time Sunday rolled around, AJ felt like her old self. There were really no symptoms left over, and she felt good. She was still a little bit under the weather in general, but she chalked that up to malaise from sitting around for days doing nothing. Kelly flew with her to St. Louis before catching a connecting flight back to Cleveland. She'd headed to the hotel where she would meet Dolph, who was flying in from Abu Dhabi, and she couldn't wait to see him.

She got there first, and checked them in, telling them that there would be another person who would be coming in later. She gave them Dolph's name before heading upstairs. The traveling was the most tiring thing about the day and when she got up to the room, she took advantage of the quiet and changed into a t-shirt and shorts before climbing into the bed for a nap. She had an early morning coming up because she'd have to take the test to see if she could be cleared to wrestle, and she only hoped she would be.

She was dozing languidly when Dolph came into the room. He was horribly jetlagged and just wanted to sleep for a while. The time difference was being felt in all his bones and he was simultaneously starving and just exhausted. He opted for sleep first, and was pleasantly surprised to see his girlfriend already napping in bed.

He'd been so worried about her his entire trip that he couldn't fully enjoy himself. Oh, he acted like he was happy, he'd perfected his fake smile and a fake cheery demeanor years ago when he'd been a cheerleader, but his mind was with her the entire time. If he could have had hourly updates, he would have without hesitation. He hated that he was forced to go on this tour when he should have been taking care of his girlfriend.

There was a little stab of guilt that came with that, though he knew it was unfounded, but the link between the mind and heart didn't always run smoothly. She'd taken such good care of him that first week he had his concussion. She'd been by his side, doing everything for him, and it hadn't been pretty at first. He'd been nauseous and with nausea came throwing up, and she was a trooper, putting up with him being sick and dizzy all the time with bad headaches he could barely get out of bed.

She'd been through that, she was right there, and he couldn't return the favor. He wanted to take care of her, that was his job, and he took that seriously. He took everything with her seriously. He would just have to reconcile that he couldn't _always_ be her hero. He undressed, leaving himself in his boxer briefs and climbed into bed. He laid on his side and watched her sleeping for a minute before the warm tendrils of sleep tugged on him as well, and he was soon napping too.

AJ woke up and her pillow was very warm and very solid and smelled very, very good. She smiled sleepily, knowing this body almost as well as her own. She snuggled up to him closer, wrapping her arm more securely around his waist. She'd gotten so used to sleeping next to him that her bed felt painfully bare when he wasn't around. She could hear him move around a bit, and she knew he was waking.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," AJ said quietly.

"It's okay," he said, "I probably should sleep longer, I need to get back on schedule," he said as his stomach growled loudly. She laughed. "Oh yeah, and I'm starving."

She pat his stomach as she sat up, "I'll order us some room service, I could eat too. I do not want to leave this hotel room until I absolutely have to."

"Before you do that, how's your head?" he wondered, looking at her critically, probably looking for any sign of the haze that lingered in her eyes the last time they saw each other.

"Much better," she said, leaning up to kiss him. "Thank you for worrying about me."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to take care of you," he frowned, lamenting of it.

"You couldn't be, that wasn't your fault, it was just bad timing, but Briley and Kelly were so sweet, when we got home, Briley actually carried me upstairs so I wouldn't have to walk, and he tucked me in."

"That should have been me tucking you in though, not my brother."

"Yeah, you probably would have creepily watched me sleep too, so again, it was probably better for our relationship that you weren't," she told him. "And you know what, the mere fact that you wanted to be there, that you would want to deal with me at my worst says a lot about you."

He shrugged a little, "I'm still not happy I wasn't there for you though."

"You're always there for me," she said kindly. "Always. You've been there for me in so many ways, baby, so many times. At my lowest moment, you were the only one there for me, never forget that. When I needed someone and felt all alone in the world, you showed up and proved to me that I deserved better than what I had. That's on you."

"When you put it like that…"

"Okay, let's get food now before we both eat each other…don't take…" Dolph raised his eyebrow. "No, no, stop it! You are not allowed to make everything dirty! Not everything I say is dirty."

"Sure sounds like it."

"Jerk," she laughed as he pulled her to him, kissing her lightly. "You're way too horny all the time, tone it down, man, I'm only one woman, no wonder people in your past have said you were too athletic."

"You can keep up, sometimes I'm trying to catch up to you," he winked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she pulled up again, grabbing the room service menu off the nightstand. They decided on what to get and she ordered their food because they needed to eat. "So…a few days, huh?"

"A few days what?" he asked her.

"Well, it's a pretty big day, don't you think?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he told her. "What big day?"

"The 19th, I mean, that's a pretty big day, don't you think, a huge day, a really huge day."

"Um, babe…what?"

"You're kidding me, right?" AJ turned to him. "You're joking with me."

"Who's joking."

"Dolph!" she told him, pushing his shoulder.

"Of course I know what the 19th is, alright?" he told her. "Like I was going to forget the night that I took you out to dinner for the first time."

"Do you think that should be our anniversary or do you think it should be the night we first talked, when you found me?"

"First date because the first time we were talking, we weren't like, on a date or anything, so definitely the 19th, and I don't know what we're doing because you may or may not be in Mexico at the time."

"I know," she pursed her lips before speaking again, "the only good thing about not passing my impact test would be that I could actually spend it with you, but if we can't be together on the actual day, we'll celebrate it next Monday."

"Deal."

She did end up passing her test, and she couldn't say she was unhappy about it. She wanted to get back to work, and even missing one week was killing her. Dolph was happy too because he knew how hard it was to sit at home and watch the shows and feel like everything was passing you by. It sucked they wouldn't get to spend their anniversary together, but AJ couldn't just ditch the international tour. She couldn't do that to her fans.

They were sitting in their locker room when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," AJ called out. Stephanie walked inside and AJ's eyes widened. "Stephanie, um, hi, we weren't expecting you."

"Plus, I don't think we wanted to talk to you," Dolph added, and AJ nudged him in the ribs.

"Yeah, I get it," Stephanie said, "I just wanted to say that I'm glad AJ passed her test, I wouldn't have stripped you of the title if you had been out either. I also wanted to let you know that the plan I had, the plan I thought I had, it's changed."

"What happened?" AJ wondered.

"I have reason to believe that my father is masterminding a lot of things around here," Stephanie said vaguely, "but don't worry about it, and I'm sorry if you felt like I was putting you on the spot to help me. I know, Dolph, that last week, you pretty much said you would do anything for me if it meant I would change your match so you could be with AJ—"

"You said that?" AJ turned to her boyfriend, the ghost of a smile creeping up to her lips.

"Yeah," he replied, "you were hurt, where else would I want to be?"

"Anyways, I wanted to return that favor, so I'm giving you a light schedule this week, it's not that you're off the shows or anything that means you're being punished, it just means, you were overseas and I know you're probably jetlagged, and so you can have the week off."

"What? Um, wow, I don't want that, but—"

"Heal up then or whatever, just think of it as a gift," Stephanie said, and Dolph simply nodded even though it wasn't what he wanted.

"Can I just wrestle a little bit?" he asked. "I mean, you know, to keep up."

"Oh well, I told them not to schedule you, but I think we can fit you into Main Event, we'll see," Stephanie waved it off, and while Dolph really did appreciate the gesture, he wasn't really jazzed about not being on the show, but Stephanie _was_ trying to be nice, and he should be polite.

"Thank you though, I am jetlagged, I do appreciate that you thought of me."

"I haven't exactly treated you both fairly, asking you to spy on me, and this isn't trying to butter you up, but smooth things over. And AJ, since I know you're probably still a little bit on the mend, and since Brie was…well, defiant with Daniel, and since I know you have no love lost for him, I decided that tonight, the scheduled Tamina and Brie match would take place, but I will be banning Nikki from ringside, you, however, will not be banned. Do with that what you want."

"Wow, um, thanks, Stephanie."

"Consider it a thank you."

"I will, but…what plan do you think your dad has?" AJ asked of her. If she was completely changing everything, something must have happened, and from the sounds of it, it was pretty big if she didn't need their help.

"Punk kind of opened my eyes to the fact that my father, for all his actual involvement, isn't really showing any of that," Stephanie said, "and he has a hand in anything, but it feels like he's going to let us take the fall. It's a theory, but if you knew my dad like I did, you'd know this is exactly what he'd do."

"So what are you doing?" Dolph asked her.

"I'm going to find out if he is and proceed from there," Stephanie said, "first you have to find the culprit before you can do anything about it."

"Well…good luck," AJ offered and Stephanie simply nodded at them both between leaving. "Well, I guess that took the decision off our hands, at least you can catch up on sleep and everything.

"Yeah, but it sucks, but I know she was coming from a good place when she did that."

"She's not all bad, see!"

"Yeah, for now…until she wants something else."

"You're too cynical, I like her, she's my hero," AJ said, "and she gave me an advantage for tonight."

"And do you plan to use that advantage?"

"Absolutely."

During the match, AJ didn't need to do anything. Tamina Snuka didn't just strike fear into all the divas, but she struck fear in some of the men too. She was tough, and she showed that in her match with Brie. No matter what Brie thought she could do, Tamina could do it ten times better. AJ was once again glad that Tamina was on her side.

After the match, she exacted a bit of revenge on Brie. It wasn't like she completely blamed her for her concussion, but she wasn't happy that Brie was the one who gave her one, so with that, she had no choice but to lock her into the Black Widow. It served her right thinking she could get her title from her. That was not going to happen, and AJ was sending her that message. Brie might have tried to take her out, but she'd failed.

AJ would never let that happen again.


	11. Missed Chances, October 21, 2013

"Are you at the arena?"

"Yeah, I am," AJ sighed, putting her things down. Since she, Natalya, and Lillian were the only women on this tour, the locker room was pretty empty and very wide open. Lillian wasn't around, and Natalya was somewhere with Tyson probably, so she had the entire space to herself. She sat down inside a locker. She knew it was weird, but she liked the little enclosed space. It gave her a sense of privacy.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm at the arena, and I'm not at home with you, celebrating our one year anniversary," AJ told him sadly, pulling up her knees so now she was even smaller and more invisible. "I should be there, we should be in bed right now, all day, just spend the whole day in bed."

"We can do that next week," he told her.

"But this is a huge deal for me," AJ told him, "you're my longest relationship ever, did you know that? Even before I came into the company, even before Daniel and all of that, I never had a relationship that lasted past ten months."

"That's really kind of sad."

"Shut up," she told him playfully. "I'm trying to tell you that you're special over here."

"I already knew that though, I've known that since the day I was born," he told her like it was just common knowledge. He heard her scoff on the other end of the line. "It's true, and thank you for calling and remembering."

"Like I'd forget," she told him. "I was so nervous that night, not for the date, but because it was you, and I don't know, I kind of thought it was all a set-up."

"You thought that me asking you out on a date was a set-up? After I sat with you that entire night hearing you talk about how upset you were over John and all the other guys? You thought it was still a set-up?"

"Yeah, I mean, you could have just been acting nice to get on my good side, you know," she told him, "and that you could have used that against me. Do you blame me though? Your witch, Vickie, was making my life a living hell, had made it a living hell for a while and I didn't know if you were sincere, so I prepared myself for the worst that night."

_She wanted to look nice, but maybe not too nice. She didn't know what this night was going to entail. She was still a little wary of him, but she liked the man she saw the other night. He was a good man, one she'd never seen in Dolph before. Maybe getting him away from Vickie was the key to making him not such an asshole. Either way, she liked that guy, and she hoped it was the guy who showed up tonight. Part of her still thought this was a set-up, but she decided to go through with it anyways._

_She had a dress on her, thankfully, and it was a cute one. Nothing revealing, nothing tight, just a blue dress with polka-dots and a slightly flared skirt. She brushed her hair out a couple more times, contemplated her makeup, but thought it nice and subdued then sat on the couch in her hotel room and waited. She wondered if he was going to ditch her, make her wait there all night then laugh at her the next day for waiting. She bit her lip a little, no, no, no, the guy the other night wouldn't do that to her._

_Sure enough, just as her thoughts were going towards him making a fool out of her, there was a knock on her door. She stood up, brushing down her skirt and going to the door. She opened it and he was standing on the other side, dressed neatly in his typical fare, black blazer, pink t-shirt, and dress pants. She smiled up at him, more like grinning actually, as he stared down at her, looking just as nervous as she felt._

"_I got you these," he said, thrusting forward a couple comic books at her. "I know you like Harley Quinn, so…"_

"_Oh wow," AJ took them from him, "Wow, I don't even have these, they just came out this week—"_

"_I know, the guy at the comic book store helped me out. He could tell I was very, very lost, probably because of how good-looking I am. He probably didn't expect someone like me to walk into a place like that, he was even more surprised when I said it was for a girl. I'm not sure he knew what one looked like."_

"_You're the worst," she laughed, flipping through the pages lightly. "Thank you, I now have stuff to read on the plane home."_

"_Good, I'm glad, I didn't want to be Mr. Cliché bring the girl flowers because I'm better than that, and what the hell are you going to do with flowers?"_

"_Exactly," she told him, "let me just go put these down, grab my purse, and we'll head on out."_

"_Great, I hope this goes well," he called into her room as she disappeared for a second, "and I know you think this could be a set-up."_

_She popped her head from around the corner, "How did you know?"_

"_I'm not stupid, I can pretty much guess what you were thinking," he told her as she came around the corner with her purse in tow. "I promise you this is on the up and up, I'm not trying to manipulate you or humiliate you."_

_She didn't know why, but she believed him. She nodded a little and walked out into the hallway with him, closing the door behind her. "I believe you."_

"And look at you, you got the best," he told her cockily and she shook her head. "Oh, I know what you're doing, you're either rolling your eyes at me or your shaking your head, but let's face it, we both know I'm the best at pretty much everything."

"Not _everything_," she told him, "you aren't the best at everything, you can't sing, that's one thing you aren't great at."

"Oh my God, one thing, I'm not good at _one_ thing," he acted shocked, "I bet if I practiced, I could be the best at that. So next Wednesday, what do you want to do for our anniversary?"

"Just be with you, is that weird? What do people do on first anniversaries, you have to tell me because I have no experience with them. Do you do something fancy, do you go out and dress up and spend lots of money. I got you a gift, I hope that's okay, and I'm telling you now so you can get me one if you haven't already."

"Oh, don't worry, I've already gotten you something," he told her. "We can stay at home if you want, I'll kick our new adopted son out of the house, I'll even get him a hotel room so he won't come back for the night and we can have a little privacy."

"Baby, that's not necessary," AJ told him, 'I don't want you to go through all that trouble, and I don't think Briley is going to appreciate being kicked out of his own home, do you? I can still spend the day with you."

"I'm not going to have my brother around for our one year anniversary extravaganza," he said, listening to her giggle. "I'll put him in a hotel room, or he can go to LA next week and visit friends, he's not doing anything, just launching his new book, so it's not actually a big deal. He'll probably take me up on it. It's a big day for us, well, _today_ is a big day for us, but we're postponing it on account of being in different countries."

"At least we're on the same continent this week."

"This is true, we have that, I feel like I can reach out and practically touch you," he told her, "Huevos is good by the way, he just walked into the room and gave me a look that told me he was pissed that you didn't ask before this."

"Tell him I love him, and that Mommy will see him soon," AJ said, "and I'll see you soon, and I really, really wish you were here or I was there. It's just not fair that after one year of being together, you are so far away from me."

"I know, it is unfair, but this is work, and we can't change work," he told her, "I wish I could be there though, just to watch you. Have you been okay on the tour? There's really nobody that you're friends with, and the last thing I want is for you to be lonely."

"I'm always lonely when you're not around," she told him coyly, "but actually, surprisingly, I've been kind of hanging out with Punk."

"Punk? As in CM Punk, as in Phil?" Dolph asked. "The guy who you kissed last year, and who strung you along, and who, after you rejected all of them, made your life a worse hell than I ever did by spreading lies about you two like you slept together when you didn't, that one?"

"Yes, that one. Now that I'm with you, and he's with Britt, and we're both happy, we've kind of reached this weird common ground," AJ explained. "I mean, it's not like we're the best of friends or anything, but well, I was eating alone the other day, he saw me, and asked me to join him, and so I did because eating alone is kind of sad, and we kind of talked things out."

"You kind of talked things out? What do you mean you kind of talked things out?" Dolph was very confused. This guy treated her horribly. He stood there in the middle of the ring and implied that he slept with AJ. Everything he'd said to AJ during her scandal was something she knew about because they were dating at the time.

"I mean, we talked through what happened last year, and why he did what he did—"

"Okay, good, yeah, explain that to me," Dolph interrupted her, and his free hand was balling into a fist unconsciously. He knew that Punk and AJ had come to some kind of tentative truce, but hanging out with her, he didn't like it, and he couldn't even explain why he didn't like it, but something about it just didn't sit right with him.

"Well, he was going through some things. He really liked Britt at the time, and she wasn't officially broken up with Hunter, and Hunter was kind of a really bad guy then and nobody really knew about it."

"What kind of bad?" Dolph asked.

"You're really being nosy, but apparently, Hunter made Chris and Stephanie believe that Punk said something bad about their kids or something that made them angry, and it was a mess, and he just felt very hostile at that time."

"It doesn't excuse his behavior towards you. You were really vulnerable, and you'd just gotten a new job, you didn't need him pressuring you and spreading lies," Dolph told her.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've ever heard you jealous," AJ told him, "I never thought I'd really see the day where you were genuinely jealous over me, but it's very cute."

"Jealous, yeah right," Dolph said, "jealous of that guy, I don't think so. I just don't like him for what he did to you, I don't like Daniel for what he did to you or Kane or John freaking Cena, all of them can burn in hell for all I care."

"Baby," AJ said in that tone that he knew was part amusement, part seriousness. "You know you're the only one for me, my only love is _you_. And I can look back at last year and laugh at how I was because I'm with you now, and I'm happy. Punk is happy with Britt, and it's not like anything is going to happen with us."

"That's not what I'm worried about, but thanks for planting _that_ seed in my mind."

"He's in love with Britt, like very, very in love with her. They live together in Chicago, which is a huge deal for him, or so he says."

"Babe, please, I know where I stand in your life, and I trust you with everything, I just hate that you're letting someone back in who hurt you so much. He hurt you, and I don't like what those guys did to you, I hate all of them, I just…I hate them. But it's not like I'm going to tell you who to be friends with, but don't expect me to be totally cool around him."

"You're seriously the best," she told him, "I love you so much, you don't even know."

"I have some idea," Dolph told her.

"Except you really don't," she said, "I don't deserve someone like you in my life."

"Nope, don't even go there," he cut her off before she could start in on the sappy stuff. "We'll save that for Wednesday, until then, it's not our anniversary, we're not going to make any grand declarations of love over the phone. That's more an in-person type of thing."

"Okay, okay, then I guess I better go so I can prepare for my match later," she told him, but hated to get off the phone with him. It was their anniversary and they were thousands of miles away from each other, their anniversary postponed until Wednesday. She just wanted to hug him and tell him how much the past year meant to her, but that would have to wait.

"Kick ass out there."

"Would you expect anything less of me?" she asked.

"Nope, I love you, Huevos loves you too, Briley said that he tolerates you, but he could do with having to hear me talk lovey-dovey to you, even though I wasn't."

"Come home soon, AJ!" Briley called out. "I don't want to know what my brother does in the bedroom without you!"

"You're an asshole," Dolph said to his brother before going back to his call, "but seriously though, I kind of need you, if you catch my drift."

"I think the entire West Coast caught your drift," AJ laughed, "I'll see you on Monday, and I'll talk to you later, I love you, and happy one year anniversary, baby."

"Happy one year anniversary," he told her.

Dolph waited by the arena door, hoping that AJ would arrive soon. He knew their flight was getting early, but it was already the afternoon, and he just couldn't wait to see her. It was getting to the point where he couldn't go a day without some sort of contact with her, and going without physical contact for days on end was making him jumpy. This must have been what she felt like the week before waiting for him to get back from Abu Dhabi. Finally, the doors opened and AJ walked inside, again with Punk. The moment she spotted him though, she excused herself and rushed towards him, launching herself at him, hugging his tightly about the neck.

"Oh my God, I missed you so much," AJ said against his neck as he bent over to lean into her embrace. "I missed everything about you, God, I missed how you smelled, is that weird, I mean, is it weird to miss how someone smells?"

"Yes, very," he told her jokingly and she pulled away to kiss him. He lifted her up so her feet were dangling off the ground and kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I missed you so much too. Let's never be apart again."

AJ laughed, "I'm not sure that's possible, baby, but I'll try," she told him, still dangling off the ground. "Look at you, this is the face I've been staring at for the past year."

"Wow, can you get any cheesier, babe?" he asked her.

"I'm allowed," she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him again. "Are you on the show?"

"Nope," Dolph said, at least not right now, "I mean, I guess I can find somewhere to be, but well, you know how it goes. I feel like I'm lost in the shuffle, I just need to be more assertive, get myself back into that title picture, but I'm not sure how, especially now that Super Cena is back."

AJ sighed, "You'll find your place, and the fans are so behind you that whenever you win that title back, it'll be a great day, and we'll celebrate, and I'll get naked for days, it'll be a little awkward with Briley around, but he'll understand."

"The day you're naked in front of my brother is the day that I shoot him."

"Okay, I'll limit the nakedness to the bedroom," she told him, running her hand down his cheek. "You're so stubbly, it's like you completely fall apart when I'm not around."

"Yeah, sure, that's why," he told her, and finally set her down on the ground. He grabbed her bag for her, like he usually did, then grabbed her hand so they could head to their dressing room. "So you walked in with Punk…"

"You know, when you're jealous about something, you get this cute look on your face. Being away from you, I had time to really think about all the times I've seen you jealous, or at least when I thought I'd seen you jealous, and you get this look."

"A look? There's no look because I don't get jealous."

"No, no, you do," she told him. "I've noticed it in interviews we do when the guy is clearly flirting with me, I noticed it when I watched video of the panel at Comic Con whenever I brought up another guy, you get this look, it's like you want to fight the guy or something."

"I do not," he scoffed, brushing off her accusations.

"You do!" she insisted. "It's like you just can't stand the thought of another guy liking me, and baby, I love it, I love that you don't think you get jealous, but you do."

"I'm not jealous," he protested, but he had a cute face of defiance going on right now that she just could not trust at all. She squeezed his hand.

"Everyone was on the same flight, baby," she told him, "and the entire time coming over, he kept talking about how he was so happy to be home so he could see Britt, and it was Britt this, Britt that, how Britt wants to get another tattoo, how cool her current one is, how he loves her, believe me, it was a Britt fest, so I interjected with a Ziggy fest whenever I could."

"Did you tell him I was awesome in bed, just so he knows?"

"Oh, baby, I think everyone knows that, Mr. Athletic," she told him as she arrived at their locker room. They opened the door and The Miz was on the other side. AJ made a face as he stood up, wondering what the hell he was doing here then remembered her boyfriend's burgeoning friendship with the outspoken superstar.

It seemed like both she and Dolph were branching out and finding friends. It was kind of nice though. They'd isolated themselves with E for so long that they created a kind of bubble between them and the other wrestlers. Now that they weren't so consumed with each other, and had just a regular, healthy relationship they were each getting friends, and it was a nice feeling. She had Tamina (sort of, she wasn't much of a talker), and now she had Punk, and Dolph was making friends left and right.

"Hey man," Miz said, "AJ."

"Miz," AJ said with a nod. "Baby, I'm going to go find a schedule—"

"You have a tag match, you and Tamina versus the Bellas."

"I guess I will go find Tamina and talk about how maybe we can give both Bellas a stress fracture. Twins do like to do everything together, right?"

"You're ruthless."

"You love it," she said, giving him a kiss goodbye and a dismissive wave to Miz.

"She seems less crazy when she's around you," Miz told him.

"No, stop right there, we don't call my girlfriend crazy because she's not," Dolph told him. Despite everyone starting to be friends with him, AJ was part of the deal, and if they disrespected her then they were disrespecting him, and that was just something he wouldn't stand for. AJ was not some crazy chick, she never was, but she certainly wasn't now.

"Okay, sorry," Miz could recognize when Dolph was being serious. "Just thought you'd want to know Big Show is planning something tonight."

"Why should I know?"

"Because it's going to be against the authority around here, and I heard whatever he's planning is going to be good. Since the people in charge have been trying to screw you over as much as anyone else around here, I thought you might want to stick around to see whatever he has planned. I'm sure it won't make Stephanie and Triple H happy, and that's worth its weight in gold right now."

Dolph laughed, "I'd love to see the looks on their faces if he tried to pull anything big."

"Stick around then, maybe it is," Miz said, slapping Dolph's shoulder. "That'll teach them for not putting guys like us on every show."

"Yeah, what's up with that, but whatevs," Dolph shrugged, "can't change it."

After Miz left, Dolph took a moment to collect himself and think about what he'd just heard. Stephanie was kind of a friend right now, and she should know that something was up. But did he really want to help them? He had no love lost for Chris, and Stephanie was just his girlfriend's idol. He didn't particularly care for her, so why give up the information? She did try to help him out the week before, giving him time off, so it wasn't like she was a total bitch.

He decided to go to catering to get something to drink and clear his head a little more. It would do no good to mope around because he didn't have a match. Guys around here languished for a long time without matches. Ryder hardly ever got on TV, other guys hardly did either. He was not one of those guys. He would be at the ready if the opportunity came up.

While in catering, he spotted Chris Jericho walking in. It was probably going to be easier to talk to Chris and get away with it than Stephanie. He walked over to him, stopping and awkwardly having a short conversation consisting of nothing of consequence before he told Chris what he knew about Big Show. Chris seemed appreciative, and he left it at that. It wasn't like they were going to become best friends or something!

He went back to his locker room and found AJ in there, stretching on the ground. "Hey, where've you been?" she asked. "Off somewhere being jealous?"

"No, I was actually helping the woman you worship."

"Stephanie? You were helping Stephanie?"

"A little bit. I found out some information about Big Show that might have interested her, I told Chris, and my good deed for the day is done."

"Why would you do that?" AJ asked. "You don't care what happens to them."

"But _you_ do," he shrugged. "Look, it's not like I did anything heroic or anything like that. I passed on some information, that's all. Let's not make a big deal out of it."

"Thank you, I care about what she thinks of me, and I know it's dumb, but…well, you have your heroes, and I have mine, alright?"

"Okay, well, if you're ever in the position to help Chevy Chase, please do so."

"I will keep that in mind," she told him before there was a knock on the door. "Why are we so popular tonight?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm popular every night," he winked at her, and she made a disgusted face at him before he went to open the door. He was surprised to find it was Stephanie on the other side, and he addressed her with that surprise, "AJ is in here if you wanted to talk to her."

"Actually, I wanted to speak with you," Stephanie sidestepped him, inviting herself in. She _was_ the boss though, so he guessed she thought she was entitled even though it was pretty rude. He didn't make comment though because this woman held his entire career in his hands. Dolph slowly closed the door behind him.

"Okay…" He didn't know what to expect, maybe she was angry with him for being in on this Big Show thing. He didn't know Stephanie well enough to know what her reaction to this would be.

"I want to thank you, first and foremost," Stephanie told him, "for telling Chris what you did. At least now I know what to expect, and I can figure out whatever is going to be going on. You didn't have to do that, and you did, and I appreciate that."

"I just told him what I knew, that's it."

"Still, it helps, thank you," Stephanie said, and she sounded sincere.

"Dolph's a really good guy," AJ added, standing up and walking over to Dolph, wrapping her arm around his waist, "and trustworthy."

"Babe…"

"Anyways, I want to give you a match tonight," Stephanie told him, "I saw you weren't on the schedule, which is a gross oversight anyways. You'll be going against Randy Orton."

"Randy? Oh, so he can crush me with that ruthless aggression you wanted out of him?" Dolph was confused again, but Stephanie just smiled at him, which unnerved him a little bit. Stephanie was never without motive, never.

"No, think of this as an opportunity," now Stephanie had that calculating look on her face. "Randy is going for the WWE title on Sunday. If he comes as the champion, and you pin him tonight for the win, that makes a very, very compelling case to Vickie that you should get a WWE title shot, don't you think?"

"Ziggy, oh my God, that could be the opportunity you're looking for," AJ squealed happily.

"Thanks, Stephanie, I don't…thank you."

"Well, the winning's up to you," Stephanie told him.

Dolph had to seize this opportunity. It wasn't every day you got this kind of chance, and he had to take it and run with it. Stephanie was right. If he could beat Randy, that would put him in a prime position to be a major player around here. He put all his focus into this match because if there was something better than being World Champion, it was being WWE champion. He couldn't even fathom the thought of holding that title. It had such a rich history behind it, and when he was five years old, he wanted that title so badly.

Then there was the thought of him and AJ being champions together again. It wasn't enough last time, not nearly enough. They had twenty minutes then it was gone. Next time, he wanted it longer. He wanted to be in a place where he and AJ could really celebrate and enjoy it. This was his chance now. He got into the ring against Randy, and took a deep breath, knowing it was his time now.

Dolph entered this match with an aggression he hadn't had in ages. He was hungry and angry, and that propelled him in the match. He had to match Randy's intensity. He knew Randy wouldn't play fair, and he didn't. When they got out to the floor, Randy took advantage and threw Dolph into the barrier. He could have called it quits then, but he didn't. He was not going to lose this match. There was too much riding on this.

He fought back and got the upper-hand, but it was short-lived. He tried to get the Fameasser, but Randy blocked it. He managed to keep control though, but then was hit with a suplex that caused Dolph to land hard on his neck and shoulder. He was out of it for a second, and Randy used this to his advantage, hitting him with a suspended DDT. It was _not_ going to end like this though. Just as Randy thought he was going to hit him with the RKO, Dolph used all his energy to hit him with a dropkick instead.

Dolph went for the cover, but it wasn't enough as Randy kicked out. Dolph was going to hit the Zig Zag, but Randy countered with the RKO for the win. Dolph lay on the mat, pissed that he'd lost, but there was a bright side to this. Stephanie gave him this match because he helped her, and if he helped her so more, who was to say that he couldn't get more opportunities like this. There could be some merit to helping Stephanie if it meant he could use it as a footing to something greater, something he felt he deserved.

It was food for thought.

He went backstage and AJ was already there, but not just to greet him. She walked over and kissed him lightly, "You did great out there, you were different in that match. You knew it meant something, and you put everything into it, I could tell. You were different, and I liked it."

"Yeah, I did too, and I think we should talk about some…things later," he said pointedly, but she didn't quite get what he meant."

"About?"

He leaned in, "Helping Stephanie."

"Oh, okay, well, I can't think of that right now, I have my match next," AJ said. "So I'm going to go out there and kick ass. You'll stay and watch, right?"

"Of course I will, but try and follow my act."

"Okay, I'll try and steal the show."

Unfortunately, AJ wasn't able to win, and the Bellas got the victory over her. She was getting so sick of these damn Bellas. Stupid Brie with her stupid Daniel. He wasn't as good as everyone thought he was. How quickly they forget how he treated her. Sunday, she would treat Brie like Daniel used to treat her. She would make Brie tap to the Black Widow, and knowing Daniel would be watching was just going to be icing on the cake.

But first, she had an anniversary to celebrate.


	12. Anniversary Delayed, October 28, 2013

A/N: Just in case you don't read the other story, I covered the Hell in a Cell PPV in this week's Hugs and Kisses chapter, and it does include Dolph/AJ so if you want to read them in that, you can, just a heads up. Also, this chapter is mostly fluff so have a happy reading time.

And I just wanted to say that reviews are never necessary, but they'd really, really help in letting me know if I'm writing this okay or not or if you like something or you don't like something. I'm never one to beg for reviews as I feel silly doing that, but I would really like to hear some feedback to know that I'm actually doing this okay since it's a spin-off and what not. Just putting that out there, hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

"You know, I don't really have to stand for this."

"Goodbye, Briley," AJ said sweetly.

"You don't even look hot, and it's supposed to be your anniversary, I think you just want me out of the house, I mean, do you think my brother is going to jump you wearing that?" he asked, gesturing towards her sweats and baggy t-shirt.

"You don't know what I'm wearing under here," she told him, "now goodbye, Briley."

"What do you have on underneath there?" he asked, making a grab for the bottom of her shirt. She squealed and pushed him in the chest. He laughed and grabbed her around the waist, moving so he could give her a headlock. "Try and get out of this one."

AJ hooked her leg around his leg and pulled them forward tripping Briley and making him fall backwards. She got up and stood over him, dusting herself off. "Did you forget that I'm a wrestler?" Briley laughed as AJ held her hand out to help him up. He grabbed it and pulled her down onto the ground.

"Do I want to know why my girlfriend and brother are on the floor together?" Dolph asked, walking into the living room with a glass of juice. "I mean, when I expected you to have the affair under my own roof, I didn't think you'd be so blatant."

"Your brother won't leave," AJ said, kicking Briley in the shin. "I'm pretty sure he just challenged me to a wrestling match. I may have to put him in the Black Widow."

"Yeah, no," Dolph said, "Not sure I want your legs all wrapped around him."

"I like where I have to tap," Briley said.

"Oh my God, I'm living with the Marx Brothers, but the dirty ones they kept in the basement," she told the, shaking her head. "Your brother won't leave."

"Leave, dude," Dolph told him, "we cannot get the party started while you're still here."

"You know, if you guys want to be loud, I have a pair of noise-canceling headphones," Briley told them and AJ made a face, sticking her tongue out at the grossness of it all. "You're lucky I have to go to LA this week anyways, otherwise, I don't think I should be kicked out of a place that I actually pay to stay at."

"Bro, that was entirely your choice, you didn't have to pay us rent," Dolph shrugged, "nobody said you had to."

"I'm not bumming off my big brother and his girlfriend," Briley said, "Okay, I've got everything packed up, I'll be home on Saturday so you guys are flying out Saturday morning, right?"

"Yeah, and I don't know if we'll cross paths, but I'll be sure to take out Nacho before we leave, so he should be okay in the house by himself, plus, with Dolph putting that doggie door to the garage, he knows to go in there if he's desperate, drive safely, don't do anything stupid while you're in LA like marry some random girl, and good luck with that meeting you have for that casting thing or something, and I can't wait to read your new book on the flight to New York."

"I hope you like it."

"I'm going to love it, your last one was great," she said, stepping up to him and giving him a hug, "seriously, drive safely, don't text and drive, and LA has terrible traffic and drivers, so be careful."

"Fine, _Mom_," he said, pouting at her.

"Shut up," she said good-naturedly.

"See you later, bro, good luck," Dolph told his brother, who just nodded at him as he left the house.

Briley called out behind him, "Please don't have sex in my room or anywhere I eat! Later guys, have fun! Peace out!"

Briley shut the door behind him and AJ turned to her boyfriend, "The house to ourselves."

"You and my brother are getting chummy," Dolph said, "he likes you better than me."

"I'm likeable," she told him, taking off her shirt, leaving her in her bikini top. She dropped her sweats and stepped out of them, "I'll be in the pool if you need me…oh wait…this top is really itchy, and it's kind of too tight." She unhooked it and let that drop to the floor, "and now I just feel overdressed…" She turned to him, biting her lip a little and let her bikini bottoms fall onto the floor. Dolph's jaw dropped. Sure, they'd gone skinny-dipping, but at night, not in the middle of the day.

He had high fences, and his house was situated in a way that nobody could see in unless they were flying overhead, but AJ, God love her, was still a little self-conscious of her lack of proportions. She joked about them, and joking was something they both did when they were trying to hide how uncomfortable they were. He knew that by now she was comfortable around him, comfortable enough to be naked in front of him casually, but sometimes he could tell that she was waiting for the day that he wanted something more. Luckily for her, that day wasn't going to come.

_Dolph gently pushed her into the mattress. He felt her arms wrap around his neck and pull him into her. He took that as an invitation, laying his body half on top of hers, his right leg in between her thighs, grinding lasciviously against her. She moaned quietly into his mouth, and he could sense where this was going. This was their fifth date, and they'd been seeing each other for about a month now. He didn't want to press her into anything more, but it was difficult when he liked so much._

_And boy did he like her. It was completely unexpected. He didn't know what to expect on that first date, but it was not someone who could come back with a quip for him just as quickly as he could for her. It wasn't someone who laughed at almost everything he said. It wasn't someone whose smile he found himself liking more and more as the night went on. She was different, and sweet, and nothing like he thought she was, and he was remorseful for ever thinking she was anything but one of the nicest, kindest, funniest people he'd ever met._

_His hand skimmed up her thigh and up her waist to the hem of her shirt, which had ridden up sometime during their make-out session. He let his hand squirm under the fabric, her skin warm and soft to the touch. He made it up to the edge of her bra and his fingers were just ghosting against her underwire when she moved her head to the side. He ended up dragging his lips across her cheek._

_It took him a moment to register that she might not be ready for anything more. "I'm sorry, is this okay?" he asked, pulling away from her, his hand snaking out of her t-shirt as he held it up in surrender. _

"_Yeah, it's fine, it's fine," she said, but it wasn't fine. AJ was easy to read, at least she was now. Before, he'd thought her super easy to read, she was crazy, that's what he read. Now he knew there was a lot more to her, and they hadn't exactly discussed who she might have slept with a few months ago. He could rule out Kane, but he couldn't rule out Punk, and he knew she had to have slept with Daniel. They were together far too long for them not to have been physical. _

_He hated to think of how much it actually bothered him that she slept with Daniel and might have slept with Punk. He'd dated in this business before, so it shouldn't because how hypocritical of him, but he was falling so hard for AJ that he just…he didn't like thinking of her with any man but him. It was a little bit macho of him, he knew that, and he hated himself for that, but this…she was his girlfriend now, and being around her exes…it wasn't fun._

"_What's wrong?" he sat up now. He was semi-aroused, but not to the point of embarrassment so he faced her as she sat up and against the headboard of his bed. "Do you not want to do this? I mean, I'm not pushing you or pressing you or anything, but if…I mean, if there's no chemistry _here_ then maybe…"_

_He didn't want her to say it was over, but maybe she just wasn't attracted to him physically. That would sting. There were so many women who wanted him, he could barely go anywhere without some woman making a comment about wanting to be stolen, so to have the one woman he wanted to sleep with not actually want him back, it was jarring to say the least, and a little bit terrifying._

_She tilted her head and looked at him with a sly little smirk on her face, "Oh, believe me, there's chemistry here, Dolph."_

_He couldn't keep his own smirk off his face, but that still didn't answer the question. "Then what's the problem? I mean, are we going too fast or something? I'm not sure how other guys have treated you in bed, you know, Daniel…Punk…"_

_He was not subtle, and she knew it. She giggled, "I didn't sleep with Punk, if that's what you're wondering here."_

"_Okay, that's good, that's good, I mean, it's not good, he was a jerk to you and everything, but…I'm glad," he told her, looking down at the bedspread and feeling stupid. "So…"_

"_I'm not like the girls you usually date. I'm not that…type."_

"_Babe, how do you even know about the girls I've dated? Have you been searching me on the internet?"_

"_Only for nudes," she told him, "I wanted to know what I was in for." _

_His smirk turned very quickly into a smile. So he _was_ going to get in her pants; that was a reassuring thought. "And?"_

_She bobbed her head from side to side, "I guess I can live with it."_

"_Oh, you'll more than live with it," he said, which made no sense and made the both of them laugh. "So why the pull away move right there?"_

"_I just, I'm not…much," she said, twisting her mouth up and gesturing towards her, "I just wouldn't want you to be disappointed by the lack of…everything and experience, I just, you're you, you're Dolph Ziggler, self-proclaimed ladies man, and I've seen the girls you've been with since whatever craziness you had with Vickie was over. They were…curvy to say the least."_

"_You're honestly worried I'm going to see you naked and think, 'eww, gross'?"_

"_Yes," she nodded, "maybe with a, 'Are you sure you've been through puberty?' attached to it."_

"_That's not going to happen."_

"_I just don't want you to regret it."_

"_I wouldn't," he insisted._

"_I just like you more than I've liked anyone…pretty much ever, Dolph, and it's just like, I…"_

"_Spit it out."_

"_I don't want to ruin it by being really bad at this," she nodded towards the bed. He laughed because she was so goddamn cute. And he kind of fell for her all the more because she _wasn't_ like the other girls he dated. They were so…overt sometimes, practically throwing themselves at him, and while that was great in his twenties, he was in his thirties now and it was getting tiresome. He wanted someone he could actually picture and plan a future with, and right now, that woman was staring at him wondering if he actually found her physically attractive. _

_He started crawling towards her until their faces were inches apart. "You're not going to be."_

"_I could be, and you'd think about," he cut her off with a kiss and she leaned into him as he grabbed her hips and started to pull her down. _

"_I won't."_

She was out the door before he could pick his jaw up off the floor and he scrambled after her, shedding his clothes along the way, leaving a very sloppy trail of clothes out to the pool. He was just pulling his socks off when she jumped into the pool. He lithely followed, diving into the deep end and swimming towards her. She laughed when she felt his hands circle her waist and his head pop out from the water.

"Happy anniversary," she said sweetly, "a few days too late, but the sentiment still applies."

"And a happy anniversary to you as well," he leaned forward to kiss her as she pressed her body against his. He gently led them towards the side, and she knew they were there when she felt the cold press of concrete against her shoulder blades. He pulled away after a beat and rested his forehead against hers. "Let's get married."

She laughed and shook her head, "No."

"What? Come on."

"No, that's not going to happen," she told him, reaching up and cupping his cheeks as she pulled his head away from her just enough so she could see his entire face. He hadn't slicked his hair back when he popped out of the water so she smoothed it back for him. "That was not a proposal."

"What if it was?" he asked, and he turned serious, so serious that for a moment she thought he might actually be proposing. But this was not a proposal story. Being naked in their pool was not a proposal story. It just wasn't. And it wasn't that she needed some big, elaborate proposal from him, she didn't, and it wasn't what she wanted, but she at least wanted to be clothed when it happened.

"If this was an honest-to-goodness proposal, like if you had a ring…or pants, I would tell you yes, but it's not, and this isn't a proposal," she kissed him lightly, "but when it comes, and it will, I know you, and you're so damn determined all the time, the answer is going to be yes."

"Okay," he said, "it's coming, babe, I hope you know that."

"Yes, I know that," she told him, pulling him back against her. "Now where were we?"

After their little swimming interlude, they found themselves wrapped up in towels and laying on the small expanse of grass they had in the backyard. The weather was warm but not scorching and they laid opposite one another with their heads next to each other. Occasionally, one of them would turn and kiss the other's cheek, but for the most part, they were content to just talk and relax, the exact way they wanted to spend their anniversary had they been in the same country at the time.

"Did you think I was the hottest member of the Spirit Squad?"

"I think you were the most intense member of the Spirit Squad," she told him. "NICKY!"

"Shut up," he told her, turning his head so he could laugh.

"You were so dorky, I can't even believe anyone would find you attractive at all. And nice choice of name."

"It's my middle name, seemed better than Dolph, can't sound so threatening when you're screaming that…I think we just proved that a little while ago in the pool," he told her and heard her giggle. "So, did you think I was the hottest?"

"Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie?"

"Truth, for sure, definitely the truth."

"Yes," she told him, turning to kiss his cheek, "but let's face it, there wasn't much competition and I just had sex with you, so I think yes would be the right answer on that front. I thought you guys were silly though, and who knew I was actually just watching my boyfriend."

"Yeah, well, who knew I was watching my dorky girlfriend get all excited about identifying wrestling themes."

"Mmm, not quite the same there."

"Fine, whatevs," he told her. They lapsed into silence again. Dolph felt AJ's hand touching around his head going over his face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I want to hold your hand, where is it?"

"Not where my nose is, I'll tell you that much," he said, reaching up and grabbing her hand with his opposite one, a mash of fingers that didn't quite go well with their positions. They settled down again and he stroked her fingers with his thumb as they quieted down again.

"This has been the best year of my life," her voice pierced through their quietude. "Not just because I won the Diva's championship, not just because I got to see you achieve your dream in the World championship, however short-lived that was, but because of you. The year before you was the worst year of my life, and you made this year the best." He wished he could see her face, but their hands were in the way. So he lifted them so he could. She turned her head to look at what he was doing and saw him grinning at her. "Stop, don't give me that look."

"What look?"

"That look, that smug, Dolph Ziggler is the best look, I hate that look," she told him, but she was smiling in amusement. "Just let me get this out okay?"

He let go of her hand and turned on his side so he could really look at her. He expected her to do the same, but instead, she brought her hands just under her breasts, lacing her fingers together as she stared up at the sky. He watched her a moment, this woman who came into his life and wrapped herself around all parts of it. Everything he was now was intertwined with her, and he loved it. He wouldn't trade that for anything.

"Okay, I will let you get it out."

She took a deep breath. "I have never had a boyfriend who really, really loved me. I know, sad, right, I get it, but I just…didn't. And I was okay with that, I mean, for a while, I don't know where I'm even going with this to be honest, God, I sound stupid…"

"No you don't," he said simply and she turned to give him a brief look before training her eyes back up at the sky. "So I guess we're onto the grand declarations of love part of our day?"

"Yes, we are, and I will get this out, I promise."

"Then I'll get mine out, and we'll have a special dinner that I've planned—"

"You're totally ordering in all the junk food we love, aren't you?"

"I never said that," he said, but she could tell that's what he meant, and she loved their pig out days. They'd recently included Briley into their little tradition, and Briley had introduced Greek food into the mix, and now she knew one of the best things was a gyro with an eggroll chaser. It was now one of her favorite combos.

"But you are, right?"

"And then I will let you beat me at our advanced copy of the new WWE game."

"Let me beat you?" she laughed sarcastically. "You don't even stand a chance. The mere thought that you think you could beat me when I beat everyone in the company last year, and would have beat everyone if I'd competed this year is laughable, baby, laughable."

"Okay, okay, whatevs, go on with the love because now I'm needing it."

"Thank you," she said, but didn't know where to start. How do you even begin to tell someone how much they actually mean to you? She took a few deep breaths and attempted to look at him, but he was so handsome that she couldn't find the words to say when she looked at him. Why did he have to be so handsome?

"I feel like we've been together for years," she started, "and that's weird, but it's true. I don't feel like it's been a year, I feel like we've just been together, you know, like, there was never a real time when we weren't together even though I know there was, and I know our pasts, and everything, it's like everything is kind of weirdly hazy, you know, like a dream. Like the girl I was last year, the one who went crazy over guys and tried to find love in all these different people who were _so_ wrong for me, it feels a fever dream, like it never happened.

"I like the me I am now," she told him, "I like who I am with you, I like the confidence that I've gained, even more than I had before Daniel. I love that I have someone who supports me so much, and who does things like pull my shirt down or defend me against my ex-boyfriend, who will make himself look like a complete jerk just so I don't look bad. You're someone who stayed. You stayed even when I screwed up, and I did, that match, you should be champion, and I know you'll say it wasn't my fault, but it was, and you still loved me afterwards. You say that I'm your world, well, you're mine because I can't remember a time when you weren't in it, not clearly, and not well, and…yeah, I just love you."

He leaned over to kiss her, "That was pretty grand."

"Follow that," she whispered his oft-used phrase and he licked his bottom lip as she challenged him with her gaze.

"Okay, okay, I see how it is now. I see how it is," he said as she sat up. Her towel drooped a little and she adjusted it so it was tight against her body. She sat cross-legged, and he was tempted to lean his head down a little and look up her towel, but that could come in a little bit.

"If it came down to choosing you or the title, I'd choose you every time—"

"That is not playing fair, Dolph Ziggler," AJ interrupted him.

"Hey, _my_ time now, your time is done, and I didn't talk my way through your speech and I didn't get distracted by the fact you're only in a towel, so give me some credit here."

"Hmmph," she crossed her arms and watched him.

"I love you," he said then paused, "that's it, that's all."

"Jerk," she pouted.

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know I hate the mushy relationship stuff, and I only say it when absolutely necessary, that's not my style."

"Yes, jokes are your style."

"Yes, they are," he said, then made a disgusted sound, "Okay, I'm going to get this out as quickly as possible, alright?"

"Okay," she told him with a nod, grinning at him, which disarmed him even more.

"Don't look at me like that."

"I'm just smiling at you!"

"But you're smiling because you know I'm going to get sentimental and you're probably filming me with something right now—"

"No, baby, that's your job," she told him, reaching forward to pat him on the shoulder. "Go ahead, lay it on me, and it doesn't have to be mushy, I just want to know how the last year has been for you, that's all?"

He rubbed his hands together a little bit. "You know how you just know that you're meant to be with someone forever, like they always say that you'll just…know. I think that's bullshit. I don't think you just _know_ because if that were the case, this would be more like our three year anniversary. I grew to love you, and it came very Vin Diesel like—"

"Fast and furious," she supplied and he grinned because she got the reference.

"And I kind of think it was better that way, love at first sight is so cliché, but love at five hundredth sight is so much better because I got to know you and love you, not just love you, you know what I mean."

"I get it."

"And I do, love you, I mean, I love every part of you, even the parts that bug me, even your sketchy past, all of that is part of you, and it's awesome, and you're awesome, and we're totally hot together, and we have three adopted children, Huevos, Briley, and E, and my life is good, I mean, the wrestling part could be better, but the non-wrestling part is really, really good, and that's all because of you. Just…you."

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too."

"I want a million years with you."

"I'm still going to be hot."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I want a million."

"Okay, a million it is."

AJ tried to drape her arms over her boyfriend's shoulders, but he was too tall for it, so she ducked under his arm and hugged him around his waist. "Okay, so what do we have lined up, whose asses do we get to kick tonight?"

"Well, I have Del Rio, which is good, that can get me right back into the World Title picture."

"That's great," AJ squeezed him tighter. "You deserve it, and you beating Cena for it would be wonderful, don't you think, it would be exactly what we were trying to do earlier this year but on a bigger scale with the title on the line."

"You going to push him off a ladder again?" he asked, looking down at her and smirking. She giggled and shrugged her shoulders coyly. "You are pretty unpredictable. I still couldn't believe you did that, I mean, I know that we discussed coming out with our relationship, but that was just a crazy few days."

"Crazy?"

"I mean passionate," he told her, and she nodded her head seriously like he'd gotten it right that time. "So what do I have?"

"You and Tamina against the Bellas."

"Again?" AJ said with a groan. "How many times do I have to show them who is boss? I mean, seriously, both of their boyfriends were mine first, pathetic really, how much they hate me, but no matter, with Tamina in my corner, there's no way we're losing that match, that's for sure."

"I agree," he told her, "actually, I think you could take both of them at the same time _without_ Tamina there."

"Probably," AJ nodded, "I mean, I'd have to take one out for a while so I could get to the other one then take her out and vice versa, a little complicated, but nothing I couldn't handle, right?"

"You handled yourself just fine last night," he told her, and while it still stung that he didn't have a match on the show last night, he was glad he got to see AJ retain her title live in the arena. It was rare that he actually got to watch wrestling live, and it was a little cool to be a spectator, especially during his girlfriend's match. Seeing her win was always amazing, and a definite surge of pride shot through him as she won and looked up towards him.

That was followed by a text message from his brother saying, "Go Mom!" with a picture of him and Nacho cheering with AJ in the background on TV.

"I did alright," AJ tried to shrug it off, but she was grinning in pride. She loved making her boyfriend proud of her.

"Tamina was out for a while, you had to crawl to those ropes while in the half crab and do it all by yourself, that's an accomplishment in and of itself, so proud of you," he kissed her head again.

"Oh stop…but don't really," she said, "oh hey, I remembered I wanted to check up on E, see how his eye was doing after last night. It looked so ugly, but he left before I could check on him."

"Okay, tell him that his father is proud of him."

"Okay, and if you talk to our other sons, tell Briley to go to Costco and get two bags of candy for Halloween."

"I don't think we get many trick-or-treaters," he said, not that he really knew. Usually on Halloween he was either working or out. This was the first Halloween that they were staying in. He, AJ, and Briley were going to have a horror movie marathon with each of them picking a movie to watch and passing out candy. He'd never really done the stay at home thing, and although he was kind of hoping his girlfriend would have dressed as a sexy _something_ (he wasn't picky, as long as it had sexy in front of it, he wasn't bothered), staying in could be fun too.

"Who said anything about them? I want to make sure we have leftovers for us," AJ scoffed, "the kids can get one piece of candy to my three pieces of candy."

"Man, you're super nice," Dolph said.

AJ drew an imaginary circle around her face, "This girl does not share when it comes to candy. That should be noted."

"So you won't even share any with me and my brother?"

"I might make exceptions if you two don't start in on the commentary during movies," AJ said, "do you know how annoying it is to have you two talking over an entire movie, either because you're quoting it because you've both seen it a million times or because you have some weird story attached to it involving people I don't know."

"I can't help what he says," Dolph tried to weasel his way out of it.

"Yes, but you can be quiet when people are trying to watch a movie," AJ told him. "Okay, I'm checking on our adopted son, I'll meet up with you later, love you."

"Love you," he pecked her on the lips as she turned to go find E. Dolph looked at his phone for a second, sending a couple texts back to people who were awaiting them. Then he sent a text to his brother to make sure Nacho was okay. Briley sent him a text a few moments later with a picture of Nacho asleep in his dog bed upstairs in their bedroom with the message that he couldn't even make it around the block.

"Dolph!"

Dolph turned and saw Renee Young jogging towards him, "Oh hey, Renee, what's up?"

"I was hoping I could get a word with you for the App before Raw," Renee told him, "you're always good for an interesting interview."

"Why, Renee, are you trying to hit on me?" Dolph asked. "I'm completely flattered, but my girlfriend _is _capable of ripping all your hair out. Maybe I can talk her into letting you join us."

"You're gross," Renee laughed, "so will you?"

"What are you going to ask me about?"

"Last night's WWE title match, is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Dolph said. He actually had a lot to say about that match in particular, but it was probably only going to be a short interview so he'd have to truncate his thoughts. He knew something like that was going to happen though, it was bound to happen.

There was no way Shawn wasn't going to be on Hunter's side, and Dolph knew that better than most. When he was with the Spirit Squad, they'd faced off against Hunter and Shawn more times than he could count. It was the biggest thing they did when he was part of that group. He could see how deep the friendship between Hunter and Shawn went, and he knew that Shawn would do anything for Hunter, so last night came as no surprise to him.

He was going to say how it was such a disgrace it was how Randy won only with Shawn's interference until he saw Randy right there, watching him do the interview. He curbed his answer because the last time he spoke his mind, he got beaten up by The Shield, and he didn't need to get into another altercation. He ended the interview by saying he hoped Randy got everything that was coming to him. He pointedly looked behind the camera where Randy was still staring at him.

He walked out of the camera shot and started to walk away when Randy caught up to him. "Everything that's coming to me, what does that mean?"

"Whatever you want it to me," Dolph said noncommittally, trying to end this before it started.

"Your jealousy is ugly, Dolph," Randy said in that husky voice that just mocked him.

"Believe me, I'm not jealous of you," Dolph told him, stopping to face the other man, not backing down because that's not the kind of man he was.

"Oh really?" Randy asked skeptically. "Have you _ever_ been able to defend the World Championship? How long was your last reign? A month, two months?"

"How long was yours?" Dolph challenged him back.

"There were…extenuating circumstances," Randy sucked at his teeth a little bit.

"Yeah, well I had a concussion, that was beyond _my_ control."

"You'll never get this," Randy said, patting his belt, "you're barely good enough to hold the Diva's championship, oh wait, your little, crazy girlfriend holds that one, and she's better than you, what do you do when she's not wrestling, lock her in a padded cell where she belongs."

Dolph knew that Randy was intentionally pushing the biggest button in Dolph's life, and that was AJ. He licked his lips a little bit, but didn't take the bait, that's just what Randy would want. "You know, you should make hold onto that title a little tighter, Daniel Bryan just might take it from you again."

Randy's eyes turned dark. "Daniel Bryan isn't getting his hands anywhere near this again. It was a fluke that he even held it for as long as he did. It'll still be longer than you will though."

"Well, I guess it's easy when you're kissing Hunter's ass all the time," Dolph told him, "you might want to wipe the brown off your nose next time."

Randy scoffed, "Good luck in your match tonight…maybe."

Randy left him then and Dolph stalked back to his locker room. That sure put him in a sour mood. When he opened the door, AJ was already in there and already in her wrestling gear. She was just lacing up her Chucks when he walked in. She could immediately tell something was wrong, but she let him sit next to her and rest his head on her shoulder. She kissed the top of his head before going back to her shoes.

"I just had an argument with Randy Orton."

"Oh, Dolph," she said, partly exasperated, partly worried. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

"No more stupid than usual."

"Great, that means you got yourself into it."

"I didn't insult him, not much anyways, and I didn't punch him."

"Thank goodness for small miracles," she told him. "So are you going to get dressed for your match or what?"

"I can do that later, I don't want to freeze my ass off," he told her, not making any motion to move from his current position. "He insulted you, that's when I almost lost it. Nobody insults you."

"I'm glad you didn't fight him over me, right now, it's not a good idea to get on his bad side," AJ told him. "I don't want you to get put in any more handicap matches or thrown off a stage or something."

"Thrown off a stage?"

"I was channeling Zack Ryder a little there," she giggled.

"Kill me if I end up like him," Dolph chuckled as there was a knock on the door. He rose up to answer it and saw Brad Maddox on the other side. This did not bode well for him. "What can I do for you?"

"Bad news," Brad said, clapping his hands together and tapping his fingers against his chin. "There was a last minute change to the schedule and we decided to scrap your match and give that time just to Del Rio so he can talk about his match last night."

"I see."

"Yes, we thought, we as in me and Mr. Helmsley, just thought that we should give Del Rio that opportunity, and unfortunately, this comes at your expense, but you're a trooper, I'm sure you understand," Brad's voice was dripping with false sincerity, and they both knew what happened. They both knew that Randy went straight to Hunter and complained and got his match cancelled.

"Of course," Dolph said with saccharine sweetness.

"Great, it's just…you know, best for business," Brad nodded as he left.

AJ stood up and walked up behind Dolph, hugging him around the waist and resting her head against his blazer. "I'm sorry."

"It's my own fault, I was stupid," Dolph said, "I shouldn't have even went there, but my mouth gets me into trouble sometimes. I should have known better, what the hell did I think was going to happen."

"I can go to Stephanie—"

"No, you can't because she has to play up the charade. If she gives me my match back, it's suspicious, there's nothing we can do."

"There has to be," she said, turning him around. "I'll go talk to someone and get your match back on the schedule and—"

"Babe, no, okay, look, it's already really dangerous for you. Look at Brie. She's getting Randy's wrath just for being with Daniel, I don't want that to be you, okay? If Hunter decides you're not best for business—"

"I have Stephanie on my side!" AJ protested.

"She isn't really, I mean, she is, she likes you and whatevs, but she has to play her part, and her part is not helping me. If they target you, if Hunter really wants and thinks you're not best for business, he will find a way to get you to lose your title, and I'll be damned if I play any part in that," he told her.

"But…"

"No, shut up and listen to me," he told her, leaning his forehead against hers. "There's a reason why we decided to break up onscreen. There's a reason we're not doing things together, and especially now when I'm getting myself into trouble left and right, you can't afford that. I don't want you getting in the crossfire I've created."

"We're a team though," she explained, "no matter where we are."

"Yeah, and this is me asking you to not interfere in this."

She didn't like it, she didn't want to sit on the sidelines and watch as Hunter and his cronies took advantage of her boyfriend. She didn't want to see him week in and week out sitting backstage and wasting away. She didn't want to see him on panels talking about a show he should be wrestling on. He was one of the best wrestlers on the roster, and that should be heralded not shoved down and boxed away for later. She hated that he was making her agree to this. She hated there was nothing she could do. She hated that no matter what she wanted, she would go along with him because she loved him and would support him through anything.

"Fine."


	13. Tricks or Treats, November 4, 2013

"Thanks for being so accommodating."

"It's okay," AJ said with a shrug, "We can always do movie night some other time. You were asked to be a show, and I'm not going to let you just skip that because I wanted to sit around at home. Besides, with us on different tours over in Europe, I'm not going to get to see you that much over the next couple weeks, so I have to take advantage of being around you."

"You're the best girlfriend," he said, leaning in to kiss her, "and I mean that."

"Oh God, not again, you two," Briley gagged as he walked into the room. "I need to put like electrical collars on you that shock you whenever you start to make out. Seriously, do you think I need to see this all the time?"

"You're the one who said to open the adjoining doors," Dolph pointed to the doors open between their two hotel rooms. "As for at home, you knew what you were walking into, it's not my problem that you see what you see."

"I'm going to get a girlfriend just so I can make you two uncomfortable. What are you guys going as to this party we're going to tonight? I can't believe you're actually friends with the Miz now. What happened to standards?"

"Look, we're here, he knew we were here, Maryse invited us, end of story. It was a nice thing to do, and what other plans do we have tonight? Going into Hollywood on Halloween is going to be hell enough, I don't want to stay there until God knows how early in the morning."

"This one wants to go as the people from that 50 Shades of Grey book that he never finished," AJ said. "I wanted to go as Harley Quinn and the Joker, but he said that would require too much stuff on such short notice."

"I told you that we could go as them next year."

"So now I get to be his, what, your submissive sex partner, is that it?" AJ asked. "Is that what the book is about?"

"I didn't read it, I skimmed it," Dolph told her to clarify, "and it's a funny couples costume that wouldn't take much. We just have to hit up an adult store to get some handcuffs and masks and maybe a collar."

"I've never been in one of those!" AJ's eyes widened.

"You've never been into an adult store before?" Dolph asked. "Oh wait, you dated Daniel Bryan, no wonder you've never been in one of those before. I can't imagine that guy is good at anything other than wrestling, and even then, I think I'm better."

"I feel like I shouldn't be in the room for this conversation," Briley said, slowly backing out.

"It's not like I'm going to use the collar at home," Dolph said, "at least I won't use it on AJ, what she does with it, that's her own thing."

"And this conversation just got so much worse, oh my God, yes," Briley back into the door through his room. "We're leaving in thirty minutes, we'll hit up the store and grab your shit. I've got my Golden Gals wig, that's all I'm wearing." He closed the door behind him.

"And that's how you get my brother out of our room," Dolph said.

"You really want to go as that? You really want to go to a store like that?"

"Does it seriously make you super uncomfortable? You can wear sunglasses inside if you're embarrassed, it's not like we're going to be buying any sex toys, babe, unless you see something you like," he told her, with AJ smacking him in the shoulder. "What? I'm just saying you might see something that interests you. I'm not going to judge."

"You're gross and I don't like you anymore," AJ turned to walk away. Dolph caught her by the waist and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down so his chin was on her shoulder.

"But you still love me," he teased her.

"Debatable," she said, rubbing his hand, "if we're going out and not coming back here, I have to get ready so you can let go of me at any point now."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm just putting the one dress I bought, it should work into that whole innocent thing you told me I need to look like—"

"She's like a virgin in the book or something," Dolph said, "so…while that's not exactly you, you can look innocent, it goes with the whole looking underage thing you've got going for you."

"That is not funny because you're sleeping with the woman who looks underage, so what does that say about you?" she asked, tilting her head up. Dolph made a face, and she laughed, pulling his arms off her and heading into the bathroom. "I'm just going to put some makeup on, and comb out my hair."

"Okay," he said, going over to the closet and pulling out his suit bag. He got dressed while AJ got ready in the bathroom, and when she came out they switched, with her getting dressed while he got ready in the bathroom. They were ready five minutes before Briley knocked on their adjoining door and Dolph opened it as he passed. Briley was just dressed in a t-shirt and pants, putting no effort into anything. "I have no idea why you tagged along, bro."

"You asked me to, and I had nothing better to do on Halloween because I don't really know anyone in Phoenix yet," Briley shrugged.

"Stop bullying your brother," AJ said, smoothing her hair out. "Let's head out of here, the sooner we get this over with the better."

Dolph laughed as they all walked down to Briley's car, which they drove from Phoenix. They looked up the closest adult store and pulled into the parking lot. They walked inside, AJ pulling her boyfriend's sunglasses over her eyes. She didn't have any sunglasses with her so Dolph leant her a pair of his since he always had like five pairs on him for some reason. She walked inside and clung to Dolph's arm as they casually walked over a section that apparently specialized in handcuffs.

"I cannot believe I'm in a place like this," she hissed at him. She looked around and saw some people milling about and wondered why these people didn't have anything better to do on a Thursday afternoon than peruse sex toys, but hey, she shouldn't be one to judge, she was in here, albeit looking for parts of a Halloween costume.

"It's not a big deal, it's not like it looks like you're probably sleeping with both of us," Briley whispered in her ear.

AJ's eyes widened and she looked around quickly, "Oh God, what if they think we're totally going to have a threesome tonight?"

Dolph laughed, "Um, no, that's gross, not going to happen."

"I'll just take AJ after you're done," Briley said and was rewarded with a punch to the gut. "Sorry, sorry, I know you're not property, AJ, would you like to come to my room after my brother's?"

"You're jerks," she told the both of them, reaching forward and grabbing a pair of handcuffs, "there, these ones, they're sparkly, and you like sparkly."

"Okay," he said, "ooh, masks, we have to definitely get those, maybe I should get a ball gag for myself, you know, just for fun."

"I should have waited in the car," Briley muttered as they walked over to a shelf with masks. AJ looked to her right, and again, her eyes widened in surprised.

"Oh my God, they have an entire wall of vibrators, I never knew there were so many different kinds, my God, does the world really need that many? I mean, how many variations on a theme can there be?"

"Well, you never know what you're going to feel like when you get that urge, I guess," Dolph said idly as he looked at a couple particular masks. "You should pick one up if you want, especially considering we're going to be apart while on the European tour. You might get lonely and better that than finding some other guy."

"How do you know I don't already have one."

"Eww," Briley said, "I'm going to go look at the porn so I don't have to hear about this. Nobody likes to hear their parents talking about their sex life."

"Eww to you going to look for porn, I don't want to know what kind of porn you watch," Dolph made a face.

"It'll be in a bag," Briley said, going over to another section of the store. AJ turned back to Dolph, looping her arm through his again, laying her cheek on his blazer jacket. She looked at what he was looking at, just a couple of black masks.

"Why are you taking so long to decide on this?" she wondered.

"Because I like quality, you never know, we might want to try something sometime, and if we need masks to do so, I want to make sure we have the best masks available," he kissed the top of her head as she made a face. "You're adorable by the way."

"What? Why?'

"Because you're all embarrassed. It's adorable," Dolph told her. "I like that you're too shy to be in a place like this, I like that it makes you uncomfortable, I think it's sweet that you have that quality instead of busting in here and going straight for the vibrator section or something."

"Ugh, you shouldn't think that's adorable."

"It is though, just one of the reasons I love you," he told her as he picked the masks he wanted. "Okay, just a collar, and we're done, and your embarrassment can be over."

"Thank you."

"So do you?" he asked as they walked into a decidedly BDSM section of the store.

"Do I what?"

"Have a little helper?" he asked, nodding to the entire wall she'd just pointed out.

"I'll never tell you, if I have one, you'll have to find it," she told him, sticking her tongue out. He took the opportunity to kiss her lightly. Once they found a collar that suited their needs, they quickly paid (AJ trying not to blush the entire time event though the cashier couldn't care less what they were buying).

After going to the taping, they headed over to Miz's house for the party. There were already a ton of cars waiting outside. She and Dolph put their masks on while Briley stuck his wig on his head, and AJ cuffed one wrist while Dolph cuffed one of his. Then Briley helped her put the collar on and Dolph grabbed the other side of it.

"I feel stupid," AJ said as they walked inside. "I feel like I'm a dog or something, I don't really get how people would really like this kind of thing. I mean, we're pretty adventurous in the bedroom, but this is the kind of stuff I'm not sure I could really get into."

"That's why it's just for Halloween," he said, taking the opportunity to tug lightly on her leash to bring her to him so he could kiss her. "I suspect the end of the night, I'm going to be the one in the collar."

"You just might be," she said against his lips as they walked up to the door.

At some point during the night, the handcuffs and collar came off, well, sort of. She still had the handcuffs around her wrist, but Dolph wasn't tethered to her any longer, and Dolph, like he prophesized, was now wearing the collar, but had nobody to grab onto it, so it was just slung around his neck. She found herself outside. There were people milling about the pool area, and she found a quiet corner with her water to take a seat.

The house was so full of people that she felt a little overwhelmed. Never one to be known as a partier, the more crowded it got, the more out of her element she felt. It was nothing bad or anything, she just needed a breather. Meeting new people was always a thing for her. She always saw herself as the tiny, geeky girl, and she figured when she saw that, that was how she projected herself, and while she'd love to break free of that sometimes, it was something ingrained in her.

Maybe she should have tried to do a better job socializing in high school in order to prepare her for everything else, but she just never saw the need. She still didn't because she liked her close-knit group of friends, and while she let people in, there were not a lot of people she would trust with her life. Right now, there were maybe 10 people in her world that she would entrust everything with. Two of them were here tonight in Dolph and Briley. Briley had become like a brother to her, and she trusted him implicitly. He was so much like his brother, and she loved his brother, so it naturally extended to his family.

Dolph was having a great time, and she was glad to see it. After the disastrous couple months he'd been having since he'd opened his mouth in defiance of Hunter, it was nice to see him in his element. Dolph was the opposite of her when it came to social situations. He could walk into a room filled with people and walk out of it having charmed every single person. She could see him through the glass door right now, laughing and talking with someone she was sure he'd never seen before in his life, but they were talking like long-lost friends.

"Anyone sitting here?" AJ looked up and saw a man hovering over her, cup in hand, and pointing at the patio chair next to her. She shook her head and he sat down. "Hey, I'm Aaron."

"Hey, Aaron," she said politely if not a little reserved, "I'm AJ."

"Cool name," he said, taking a sip of his drink before turning his head to stare at the water.

"Yeah, I'm partial towards it," she said, leaning back in her chair. There were enough people around that she didn't feel uncomfortable with this stranger next to her, plus, if he were here, that meant he knew either Miz or Maryse or one of their friends since there was security outside regulating who was invited and who wasn't. She suspected that was Maryse's doing and not Miz's, who would probably invite the whole of LA if he could.

"Got a little too crowded inside," he told her, leaning his forearms on his legs as he continued to stare at the water. "I came tonight with my sister, she's been working with Maryse on one of her lines or something like that, I'm a little unclear on the subject, how do you know them?"

"I work with Miz, and I used to work with Maryse."

"Oh, cool, cool, so you're…a wrestler?" he asked, trying to remember what it was Miz did.

"Yes, I am," she nodded her head.

"And tonight you're dressed as…an escaped prisoner," he jerked his thumb towards her left wrist where the handcuffs were dangling, "from a jazz prison maybe?"

She laughed, ducking her head, "That would be an interesting costume, but how would the mask fit into the jazz prison?"

"Well, to conceal your identity of course," he joked, and she nodded. "So you're a wrestler, I never in a million years would have figured that, but then, I look at Maryse and never would have figured she would be a wrestler either."

"I'm deceptively strong," AJ said, "I'm also the title holder, so not only am I a wrestler, I'm the best female wrestler on the roster."

"Wow, excuse me, is it okay to sit next to such royalty?"

"I guess," she nodded, "but just remember you're sitting with someone of very high esteem."

"I'll remember, trust me," he held up his hands in surrender. "So, are parties as not your thing as they are not my thing?"

"Yes," she told him, "I just feel very out of place, I don't know, meeting lots of people, trying to hold conversations with these people, it's all very, very difficult. I lead what I think is a boring life outside my job, but people just expect me to be full of crazy, fun stories."

"I can see that, I was really hoping you'd tell me a crazy, fun story, but my hopes are dashed."

"I'm sorry, you chose the absolute wrong person to sit next to," she shrugged, giving him a look to which he laughed at, "instead, you get a very boring girl whose original plans were to sit at home, watch movies, and pass out candy to kids."

"Those were my plans, but my sister told me that she was not going to allow me to sit at home on Halloween, and she was dragging me to a party where I would meet the girl of my dreams, fall in love, and marry her."

"Any luck with that?"

"There's a girl inside who is really pretty, and it's super intimidating to even think about approaching her, and that's why I'm sitting out here alone."

"What's she dressed as?"

"Your typical run-of-the-mill Wonder Woman." AJ nodded, and thought she remembered seeing who he was talking about, and she was pretty now that she thought about it. She could see where that girl would be intimidating for a shy guy.

"You should go in there and talk to her."

"Oh, should I fellow person hanging out in the shadows away from the party? Do you really think I'm going to take advice from the girl sitting by herself, not talking to anyone?" he teased good-naturedly. She stared at him, not saying anything, but keeping his gaze. "Fine, fine, fine, okay, I'll make you a deal then, you find a guy you want to talk to, and if you talk to him then I will talk to the girl inside."

"Who says I came here tonight looking for a guy?"

"I don't know, but I figure if you're out here alone…"

AJ leaned over so she could peek inside, "See that blond guy right there?"

"You mean the guy who everyone seems to love, yeah, I've noticed him, I think everyone has noticed him. I talked to him briefly, he's actually super nice, you wouldn't expect it because he kind of looks like a douchebag, you know, one of those guys who thinks he's better than everyone. Oh, and who every girl is looking to score tonight…oh wait, you want him, oh, I see, I see."

"You think every girl is looking to score him tonight?" AJ asked, trying to keep in her snicker. Other girls may try, but they weren't going to get him.

"Yes, I'm surprised his costume didn't involve him being shirtless to be honest, you know, like a Greek god or something."

"Oh please, never mention that to him, it would only encourage him."

"Oh, so you know him? Well then you can't talk to him, he cannot be the guy you talk to in order for me to talk to Wonder Woman."

"Oops, I'm sorry, that can't happen, that blond douche is my boyfriend," AJ said. Aaron blinked for a few seconds, just staring at her before staring back at Dolph then staring back at her.

"You're dating him?"

"Yes, I'm dating him, don't look so shocked."

"I'm just surprised since well, you're out here."

"Well, we're different, but we work," she said, "which is why you should talk to Wonder Woman. She may seem super intimidating, but you don't know that. Dolph, that's his name, he is a life of the party guy, and he is a guy who everyone wants to know, and he will charm his way into your brain until you just want to be friends with him. He's also the biggest dork you'll ever meet."

"So why are you out here then?"

"Just needed a breather, that's all," she said, "he'll realize I'm not around though, and he'll probably come looking for me, you should go talk to this girl. Listen to your sister, go, talk to her, fall in love, get married."

"Okay, but only because you're dating the blond douchebag," he told her, standing up, "it was nice meeting you, AJ."

"You too, Aaron. Go get the girl!"

"I'll try," he laughed, walking inside. She sat out there for a while longer, just looking at Dolph, who was still so much in his element. She felt a little on the outside looking in. Was this how he was before they were together? Admittedly, when he had the chance, he'd go out with friends and party, but he also understood that wasn't her thing, and so he often chose to spend his time with her.

Was this his life before her though? Smiling and laughing and being the center of attention, something she knew he loved to pieces. Those old thoughts started to creep into her brain again, those old worries from the beginning of their relationship. There were nights that she stayed up and wondered what the hell was he doing with her, how could Dolph Ziggler of all people really want her? On those nights, she compared him to Daniel, to Punk, to Cena, sizing him up against him, trying to find similarities in their behavior that would justify her dropping him like a bad habit because of her own one-sided fear.

Sometimes she would even come up with cockamamie stories of her own twisted telling to make him seem bad even though he was never horrible to her when they were together off-screen. He even made it a point to apologize for all the mean things they came up with for him to say to her. That was the kind of man he was. But all the same, she still questioned whether she was the kind of woman he wanted. In those early days, she tripped up her own mind thinking about whether or not she saw pity in his eyes when he looked at her, whether he just pitied her for all the things she'd confessed to him so he was trying his best to be the exact opposite, and it was just an act to try and not get her to fear men any longer.

While the fear creeping up in her now was subdued and dulled to the point where it was not that much fear, but something lighter and without the terrible delusion that he was about to break up with her at any moment, it was still a slight fear. That was him in there, that was _him_, and was she suppressing that because _this_ was not _her_? She didn't want to suppress him in any way. She didn't want him to change because of her because if that happened, he might come to resent her, and that, _that_ thought brought genuine fear.

She was startled from her thoughts when she felt something tugging at her wrist then the quiet clink of metal. She looked to her left and saw Dolph sitting in the seat formerly occupied by Aaron and he was staring at her with a smile on his face. It was slightly glazed, and she knew he'd had a few drinks, but he was nowhere near drunk. She didn't mind him drinking around her because he always cut himself off before he actually got drunk, and she appreciated him for that.

"Hey, what's a pretty girl like you doing sitting out here all by herself? She's liable to get hit on by a very handsome man if she's not careful."

"Tell me when one comes along," she told him, raising an eyebrow as he gasped in shock. He still had his mask on, but the blue of his eyes was still catching from the lights in the pool. It created a strange effect since it was blue light meeting blue light, and it almost made his eyes look aqua or something, with the pool reflections making them ripple, and against the black of his mask, it was almost breathtaking.

"One has come along," he said with a smirk, but then turned serious, "you're not having fun."

"I never said that," she told him. "I just…there's a lot of people I don't know, and—"

"Come here," he patted his lap and she got up, and moved into his lap. He leaned back against the patio chair and took her with him. Their cuffed hands sat in her lap as she wrapped her free right arm around his neck and he wrapped his free left one around her waist, lightly resting his hand on her hip. With the added height, she rested her cheek against the top of his head. "You should have told me you felt uncomfortable."

"You were having fun," she told him, "and I like seeing you like that."

"But if you're not having fun, my fun is severely dampened."

"No, it's not," she told him with a short laugh. "I'm perfectly fine being on the outskirts, you know that."

"I don't want you on the outskirts."

"I feel more comfortable there," she confessed to him, "but really, I don't mind that you're having fun, I was just out here, enjoying the night, and I'm not entirely hopeless, I made a friend while I was out here."

"Are they invisible, babe?"

"No," she kissed his temple harder than necessary. She looked inside the house and spotted Aaron talking to Wonder Woman, and she was proud of him. They looked like they were engaged in conversation, and she was glad. "That guy right there, the one talking to Wonder Woman. That's Aaron."

"Oh, _Aaron_, huh?"

"Yes, he wanted to talk to that girl he's talking to, and I encouraged him to go for it. He did not hit on me if that's what you're thinking."

"He was probably thinking about it though," Dolph scowled.

"No, he wasn't," AJ protested, "he was nice, it was just a nice conversation and that's it, you read too much into things. Believe me, if I were by myself here tonight, I guarantee you nobody would notice me."

"I would," he told her, "at any place, during any time, ever, I would notice you."

"That's why you walked past me for years at work."

"Oh, well, that's when I thought you were crazy, totally different," he joked, leaning up to kiss her. "Come on, let's get out of here, I've schmoozed enough, and if we leave now, we can make it back to the hotel in time to make room service, and we can get some real food and real dessert and at least kind of go with our original plan of sitting around, pigging out, and watching movies."

"Are you sure?" she asked, not wanting to force him to leave or anything. She would feel bad if he left something he liked on her account.

"Yeah, I'm positive," he said, nudging her until she stood up. He grabbed her cuffed hand with his cuffed hand. "We just have to find my brother, and if he's making out with some chick, he can find his own ride home."

Briley had, in fact, just finished making out with some chick, and since he was done, got her number, and promised to call her (maybe), he was fine with leaving. They said their goodbyes, and a bevy of women were sad to see Dolph go (and even sadder to see AJ playfully leading him away with the leash), and left, with AJ driving since she didn't drink. They drove back to the hotel, and managed to make it before room service ended. They practically ordered the entire menu as they all changed into their pajamas and started discussing what Pay-Per-View movie to buy.

They settled on just watching a TV presentation of The Exorcist while pigging out on the plethora of food they ordered. After their stomachs were full, things started to slow down and people started to get drowsy. Somehow, Dolph was at the center of this. He was sitting up on the couch with AJ's head in his lap, her legs curled up on the rest of the couch. His brother was on the floor on his other side, and his head was now drooped against his brother's knee and judging from the even breathing, he was asleep. AJ was on the verge of it, and he ran his fingers up and down her arm.

"Did you have fun tonight?" she asked him hazily.

"Yeah, I had fun," he told her, "mostly with you."

She smiled though he couldn't see, "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded immediately and without thought. That was just the response nowadays, and he didn't even need to think about it. "Go to sleep."

"Okay," she said, her voice trailing off at the end. He just looked down at her and smiled. He wasn't lying with what he told her just now. He loved spending time with her, and that was always the highlight of his night.

He just wished she would believe him when he said it.

Dolph looked down at the schedule and saw that while he didn't really have a match, the potential was there. "Well, they're going to the polls, hopefully I'll win, but it's against E, that's going to be slightly awkward, father against son and all that," Dolph joked. AJ gave a light laugh as her eyes scanned the sheet of paper.

"Bellas _again_? I swear to God, who is making these matches? It has to be Vickie I guess, is she never going to learn? I can beat these women in my sleep. I think she thinks it's _good for business_ if she promotes that Total Divas crap," AJ scowled and grabbed the piece of paper, crumpling it up and throwing it against the wall. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she still has it out for me because of you."

"I'm sure she's over that."

"Yeah, right," AJ said, "I don't think Vickie gets over anything. I think if Edge were still around, she'd hold a vendetta against him."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's like you said, you can beat both of them with one hand tied behind your back. And Eva Marie, she's a nothing, a nobody, have you seen her try to wrestle, it's painful," he told her. "You're going to win, you have you on your team, very awesome, Tamina is scary, and Aksana is…going to be there. You have it in the bag, heaven help Eva Marie if she gets in the ring with you."

"Thank you," she told him, "I'm still not happy about it though. I swear to God, if Brie gets one more title shot, I'm smacking her in her face so hard with my title that Nikki will have to get plastic surgery just to look like her again."

Dolph tried to keep from laughing, but he couldn't, "I love you when you're so fierce like this, it means you're going to go out there and kick ass, and I love it."

"Thank you," she said, "but I'm still mad. I've beaten her, what, three times now, it's time for her to move on, maybe Nikki wants to try me, I'd love to beat her too. It'd almost be like beating John since Nikki is like his shadow right now."

"I also love when you get catty," Dolph said, "I've got to try and make sure I win this poll."

"You will," AJ told him, "people love you right now, and they want to see you wrestle, especially since you didn't have anything last week because Randy is an asshole. If I could beat him, I would."

"I know you would, believe me," he said, "I just feel like it's hard to describe how I've felt like…I hate to think that Hunter and his assholish behavior is actually getting to me, but…it's actually getting to me. I know this is what he wants. He wants to break me, he wants to see me suffer, and ever since I pissed off Randy, I know he has it out for me too, but I guess I'm just letting it get to me too much."

He sat down heavily on the couch, resting his hands on his knees. AJ sat next to him and curled her body against his, "I know. You don't think I see it, but I do. It's funny how sometimes I think you think you can still hide your feelings from me."

"I can't?" he said. She shook her head. "Damn it, I'm in trouble then."

"Not that much," she told him. "You haven't been lost, baby, you've been pushed back. There's a difference. It's not like your skills have diminished or your talent has vanished. It hasn't, you're always going to be so good at what you do, you're always going to steal the show. This is their doing, this is all their doing, not yours. They want to break you, but you have to push past that."

"I'm trying, but it's so damn hard when I come here to work and I have a match then it's grabbed away or like tonight, I'm given the opportunity for a match, but I may not get it, then what? There's nothing I can do."

"You do a lot, I mean, you're still valuable, you're valuable when you do interviews and supporting me, and Stephanie was so appreciative earlier when you told her that Big Show was in the area."

"Yeah, but it's not the same, babe," he told her, "don't mind me, you actually have a scheduled match tonight, and no matter how down I get about my own stuff, that's how proud I am of your stuff."

She smiled. It was moments like this, when she could be there for him that the nagging fear that she was holding him back dissipated. She wished she could say that it got better after the Halloween party, but it lingered. It lingered and festered, but didn't get infected, so she pushed it away and pushed it away. This man wanted to marry her; that was huge. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, always with her, like every day!

Yes, he could want to marry her, but what if he was just blinded by something she wasn't? Maybe he would come to realize that his lifestyle and hers just didn't mesh the way he thought? They'd only been together a year, and that year had flown, so there was probably still a lot of things they didn't know about the other, a lot of things she could do to screw this up. And sometimes she still believed she would screw it up one day.

"Lonely at the top?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she asked, not realizing she'd been zoning out.

"You were thinking pretty hard, picturing how you were going to crack the Bellas skulls together?" he asked, thinking her intense concentration had been about her match later, and why should he think any differently? There was no reason for him to suspect anything was wrong with her because she'd played it cool.

"Yeah, it was a nice image."

"Come on, let's both get out of our own heads and go for a walk. We can grab some cookies in catering or something."

They ended up getting some cookies and water at catering (milk would have been more appropriate, but there was none) before hanging out in a hallway, Dolph leaning against the wall and AJ leaning against Dolph. In a peculiar moment, Punk came up to them and told them that Daniel might want to talk to AJ. Dolph didn't trust either man, but luckily, Punk left before things could get physical.

"That was odd," AJ said, "I wonder why Daniel would even try, you know, I mean, what's past is past, and I don't like thinking about it."

"Did you ever really get closure though?" Dolph wondered curiously.

"Yes, I mean, I dumped him at the altar, not that I was ever really going to marry him in the first place, the plan was always to dump him at the altar."

"That's…not really closure, babe."

"It was closure enough for me," AJ told him, "I don't want to talk about it right now, is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it is, that's fine, but…maybe someday, okay?" he leaned down to look her in the eyes, and she nodded. "Okay, well, I think the results for the poll are going to show up soon—"

"Oh look, it's the little bundle of crazy," Randy Orton came up to the couple, and Dolph could almost hear his teeth cracking as he clenched his teeth. "You know, I don't talk to my WWE title belt as much as you talk to your title belt, but mine tells me that your boyfriend is never going to touch it."

"And mine tells me that your belt fears for its safety since you like to do really bad things. Pretty kinky, Randy, I didn't know you had it in you."

Randy sized her up, and he took a step closer, towering over her. "I like your spunk. Not many people around here will stand up to me, especially someone as tiny as you are. I guess that crazy thing really is true."

"The only crazy thing I see around here is you since you actually think you're a good face for this company," AJ said.

"I like you even better now. You know," he looked over at Dolph with disdain. "If you ever get tired of being with a loser, I'm very willing to discussing our championships together, if you know what I mean."

"Okay, shut up," Dolph said, taking a step forward and pressing AJ behind him. "Don't you dare talk to her like that again or I swear to God, I will beat you within an inch of your life."

"Dolph," he could hear AJ's voice behind him, but it sounded so very different.

"Oh, you will?" Randy didn't seem intimidated, but Dolph stood his ground, not backing down, not now, not ever. "You know, it'd be a shame if you didn't get to be on two shows in a row. I mean, a real, real shame. I guess you wouldn't be able to steal the show if you weren't on it. That'd be a damn shame. See you two later, and AJ, I _definitely_ hope I see you later."

AJ tried to get at him, but Dolph held her back. "You should have let me hit him."

"Not worth it," Dolph said, "we just have to hope the fans will vote for me. That's all we can really do."

When the results came back, he'd only gotten 12%. That was it, third, he'd come in…third. And E had won overwhelmingly. He gave E an encouraging smile and a pat on the back, telling him to make him proud, but he was not proud. He was upset, and he was mad, and he felt that lost feeling creeping up on him. AJ hugged him around the waist, but he could barely feel it.

"So much for the fans loving me." AJ shook her head and pulled away. He looked down at her to see what she was doing.

"Don't you see, baby," AJ said, looking up at him with those doe-like eyes. "He rigged it."

"What? You don't think that's what he went to do when he left us? That was as rigged as I've ever seen it," AJ said, "I love E to death, you know that, he's our adopted son around here, but there's no way he wins by that much. Randy knew you'd win. He had to have known you were winning—"

"He did," a new voice said, coming over, but standing there looking at them critically. Dolph looked over at Stephanie. She was giving off a pissed off vibe, but he knew it was for show since her talking to him in front of everyone could be construed as strange given Hunter's behavior towards Dolph. They were far enough away where the conversation couldn't be heard, but she wanted to give off the demeanor that she was belittling him.

"What?" Dolph asked, looking at Stephanie. She gave him a scowl and threw her arms up, but it was all for show.

"Randy came to him," Stephanie poked him in the chest, "told him not to have you win."

"Damn him," Dolph didn't have to feign his anger over this.

"I told you," AJ said.

"Don't worry," Stephanie told him lowly, appraising him as if she wanted to slap him. "I got you a match with Curtis Axel. Prove you can beat the IC champ, and things might be set in motion for you. I know it's not the title you want, but it's the best I could do on short notice."

Now Dolph was having a difficult time keeping the anger off his face, so he just set his jaw and nodded once, "Thank you."

"No," Stephanie said, "thank you."

She stormed off and Dolph turned to AJ. She resisted the urge to smile at him, instead walking away, trying to look angry. Once in their locker room, AJ turned to hug him. "This is a great opportunity. I know it's not the World Title, but if you beat Axel tonight, that could at least fast track you to that title, and it is in desperate need of a new titleholder, and why not you? Oh my God, this is great, you can definitely beat him."

"I can't believe Stephanie would do that for me. I'm…surprised to say the least."

"She's like that, she helps people out," AJ said, "she's really very kind, you just have to be in her inner circle to see it. She's helping you because you're helping her, and she's appreciating that. So you have to take this opportunity and do it, you hear me, I don't want you coming back with a loss."

He took that into his match, and it was a short one, and he…won. It felt good to win, it felt good to be on TV, and it felt good knowing he hadn't let another wasted opportunity get past him. He was so happy to be in this position right now. He could work with this. So many times he was knocked down, but he kept getting back up. Each and every time someone of power tried to push him over, he came back, and he did what he had to do. This time was no exception, he'd gotten this win, despite Randy and Hunter's attempts at pushing him down.

Maybe there was a title reign in his future.


End file.
